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"You know, you can't always call me to your office, right?" Harry asked with amusement clear in his tone and in his expression as he sat down opposite Elaine.
The woman snorted. "I'm the Minister, my love," she said as her face grew into a sweet grin. "Your time is as mine as you are, and I'd much rather hear all updates from your lips rather than those of the leeches or up-jumps that would take your place. You wouldn't want me to scold them as I'd like, would you?"
"No."
That wouldn't be good for anybody, not that she'd actually do anything too insane any longer. Elaine's gotten to be… tame? No, that word doesn't apply. I suppose she's gotten more relaxed and comfortable. It wouldn't make sense if she threw it all in the bin.
"Good, so what do you have, darling?" Elaine asked with a gesture towards the parchments in his hands at the same time she leaned forward so that she might get a better look at him. "I hope it's good news. I'd rather not discuss any more transfers from the Commonwealth, aid from other Governments Aurors or anything of that likeness until we've dealt with our mutual problem."
Harry shook his head at all of her words; it had nothing to do with any of those issues. There was a reason he had already brought them up once, and truthfully, that was all it would take, Complain as she might about the mundaneness that came with the title of Minister, he knew that she secretly loved the reliance the Ministry was putting on her. Without Elaine's presence and Harry's for the added benefit of public morale, the Government, fragile as it is, would collapse.
Who would fill the vacuum, how crime would grow and the finer details were unknown. Suffice to say, all that saw her labours and Harry's too recognised that they were the greater good at this point in time. That was twice as true if they wished to avoid having to handle the issue that was Grindelwald and how he could seemingly come back despite death… two deaths.
"McMacson and the rest of the Auror Corps have finished the various raids throughout the country, and those locations abroad that we sent to the Soviets, French and Americans were received and acknowledged, as are the artefacts that we returned to the Soviets, French and other nations," Harry paused, adjusted the collar of his suit and tapped as he took note of the expression on Elaine's face. "Not too interested?"
She shook her head. "I'm very invested in our relations with those nations, but the minor details need not be mentioned — what did we find, where do they stand in relation to us, and are they aware of any dark artefacts of their own that might be connected with him? Have Corene, the Goldhorns or Senior responded to your missives?"
Harry wished so very badly that he could tell her yes, that the others had responded and soon they would locate Grindelwald's 'Horcrux' that had been hidden away and restored him to health; multiple, potentially. As it was, neither Horace's father nor Corene had responded quite yet. He assumed in the case of the latter that she did possess some level of information, but either wasn't confident enough to share it thus far or was in the process of gathering more for them whilst Slughorn Senior was nought but speculation.
One could only hope that time would aid them.
"Corene and Slughorn Senior haven't answered, the Goldhorns have — I got it an hour ago, if that and since I knew you'd be calling me up before the day was over, a few times at that, I figured I'd wait to share it until that time came," Harry did a small wave at that point, emphasizing his point and hoping to lighten the mood to some degree. "What would you prefer I start with?"
Elaine smiled, smug, as she apparated across the room until she was seated upon one plush sofa, and after doing so, she summoned him with a wave of her hand. Immediately, he was next to her, and only then did she answer him. "Save the Goldhorns for last, I'd like to hear about our 'allies' and the Aurors' findings."
Harry figured she would do all that she could to save Sarah or any talk about the girl for last, and with an inward smile at having predicted Elaine — a feat that was impossible two years past — he started speaking once more. "The Soviets seemed surprised that we sought them out, twice so when we returned magical artefacts that had been stolen and gave them, freely, locations of hidden caches. I suspect they'll pay that back in time."
"Possibly," Elaine said, disdain evident in her tone. "Don't forget that it's the Soviets that purged much of their Magical community, upwards of twenty or thirty per cent were exiled or killed. We'll need to tread carefully."
"I agree."
Elaine leaned into him, her head gently coming into contact with his own. "The French and our other Western neighbours?"
"The French and Benelux are nervous with the Soviets holding Austria, Tyrol, Hamburg and other more central holdings, and they're more anxious by the Yugoslavians joining to the Soviet sphere, but they're better than they've been in quite some time," Harry smiled fondly at the memory of those diplomats, and more importantly, the Aurors they had sent over as a token show of support despite their own state of destruction. "I suspect we'll be fast, strong friends with the lot of them, and they might well look to us for assistance should our Soviet friend grow hostile," Harry hoped that would never come to pass, but Elaine's nod and the thoughtful expression on her face didn't make him feel wholly confident.
"We'll try and keep them close, it would do us well to have strong friends across the channel, and the Yankees, they'll prove as helpful as ever?" Elaine's question was mocking, for she thought their large Magical population could have been better put to use had they helped their friends. It wasn't an unpopular opinion, though they weren't hated for their lack of assistance, for eventually, they had come to help as most countries had.
"I don't know," Harry answered.
"I suppose we'll see," Elaine said, her words oddly tension-causing.
"We will," Harry agreed before he withdrew the top piece of parchment and handed it over to Elaine.
"Inventory?" Elaine asked as she read the topmost word on the parchment aloud, her eyes curiously on Harry's.
He nodded, once. "McMacson thought you'd be interested in having a parchment with everything they found catalogued, and so after that was done, he sent me all of these parchments. I've looked through all of them already, there's nothing quite as dark as you'd described."
"As I described," Elaine said, sharp as ever. "That means there's something in his belongings that's enchanted with dark magic?"
"There's more than one 'something' filled with dark or hostile intent," Harry pointed towards the bottom-right of the page, the two pressed together intimately as she shifted to do so; it would have been romantic or otherwise affectionate were they not going over an inventory list that might well have what they were looking for despite the thoughts of those that found it first. "There's that specific section… I thought I remembered it."
Elaine made a noise of thanks and some other verbal emotion before she was lost to that portion of the parchment. It was a few minutes at first, and then that grew to be ten, fifteen, even thirty minutes. Harry feared that he might have lost her to the parchments for the evening before, suddenly, she shook her head.
"He collected every item?"
Harry nodded. "Everything on the parchment, all of the parchments, so long as it was magical in nature, was taken. All of those items, his gold, his paintings, his loot, his clothes — we have it all. I could show you."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Harry found himself on his feet and at the side of a very eager, impatient Elaine who had a grip on him that was sure to leave scars behind. "We've got ourselves a journey, and finally, I've found an escape from this mediocrity. Lead the way, my love. I'd like to do some rummaging."
"We can't tak—" Harry tried, but he shook his head and reaffirmed his grip on Elaine's closer hand. He was certain that he couldn't stop her from stealing from the evidence storage unit, and so he figured he would see her plans through; he wasn't really that against it anyhow if it meant a greater chance of finding Grindelwald's Horcrux or Horcruxes.
"Did you ever decide on a final number?" Harry asked as they walked — hastily — through the halls of the Ministry, ignoring the many looks and passerbyers as they did so.
Elaine seemed off for a moment, and then she shrugged, even that action girlish and demure. It was because of where they were, but Merlin, after all of this time and all that he knew about her, it was so very strange to see her acting the part of a soft, sweet young woman. He could understand then and there why so many people would love her in any fashion. She was very easy to love so long as you didn't know how her mind worked or the darkness that waited ever so patiently to be released.
"Three."
Harry blinked as they entered an empty elevator. "Why three?" he asked as the doors closed and they were the sole occupants, his arms wandering around her stomach as he pulled her into his chest from behind. Sure, propriety might demand that he refrain from such actions, but Elaine was a romantic — strangely enough — and most of those that worked at the Ministry seemed to enjoy the affectionate young power couple.
I reckon I could be blind too… how long did everything with Elaine take? I thought she wanted to kill me for half a year before I figured she was actually infatuated with me. Even then, it took another year to convince me that much was true… that other version of herself really did me in.
"Three is a powerful, but light in regards to cost number, and one that's referenced many times throughout magical history. Grindelwald was clearly deranged as we've seen him, and it seems worse this second time around than when first we fought, but he wasn't totally absurd — he was intelligible, didn't seem to lose himself and still troublesome enough that the pair of us are required, so with all of that considered, I've decided upon the number three," Elaine said, concluding with her arms folded… until one wound its way Harry as a constricting snake might do.
It was then that the elevator opened, and a few muttered apologies or coos were enough to tell him that they had been seen, again, in an embrace of some sort. Elaine didn't let go despite the others' presence, and as he moved out with her glued to his side, it was only when it left that she finally released her hold of him.
"What?" she asked, a brow raised. "You know, you've still not said anything back after I answered your question, my love."
Harry thought that he could respond one way, but ultimately, he shook his head. It wouldn't be worth it to get into her odd, possessive behaviour. Time was valuable, and those discussions, fun as they ended, would only prove troublesome at this point in the day.
"You're horrible," he said with a snort before he pulled her back into his side as they started, again, towards the Auror Corps office; more importantly, the evidence room attached to the general area.
"And those other women were the first syllable therein," Elaine responded feistily, her renewed grasp on him growing tighter. "Three, I stand by that number and won't rest until it's the number we've destroyed — should we fail to do so, the odds are the repercussions for doing so will be quite horrible."
"Who would still be stupid enough to follow him?" Harry asked, unsure of Elaine's words.
After all of the suffering and violence, Harry was certain the man would struggle to find five or ten followers. Elaine thought the opposite, apparently.
"So long as idiots exist, a person with the wrong intentions will rise up to be king of them and utilise their fears, insecurities and weaknesses to exploit them. He sought the Magical races rise and the Muggles fall, and whilst many agreed, the war he started turned them against him. We were lucky," Elaine stopped, allowed a smile to wash over her face and gestured towards the door before Harry had even realised they had stopped at one, so mesmerized by her words and beauty as he was.
One might figure the latter point would be unimportant with the amount of time they had spent together at this point in their relationship, but that person would be wrong. Elaine's beauty inwardly and outwardly was far beyond the likes of most people, and so long as she was kept in check and peaceful… for the most part, her other traits with negative connotations would fade into the background.
He could see to that personally if he had to, and based on what she had said before, that being that she would listen to him, he was certain he could achieve all of that and more. He had to, it was his very literal reason for being.
"Allow me," Harry said with his own polite, friendly smile as he opened the door for her.
The pleased, 'shy' look that Elaine sent him upon doing so was cute even if he saw right through it. "Ever the gentleman," she said quietly, her eyes alight with life and fire.
Elaine's got more fire in her than Ginny had. I wonder how she mana- that's a stupid question. She didn't.
"Do you remember where the room is, or do you need me to guide you to it?" Harry asked as they finally entered the room completely, the eyes of many an Auror, foreign and domestic, on them as they perused the area with a sense of urgency.
Mayhaps many in the crowd thought that something big was about to happen. Harry hoped the many calm smiles and open palms he shot towards the masses would calm them, and as the chattering lessoned, if ever so slightly, he thought that was a job well done.
"The Goldhorns," Elaine said suddenly, and as she directed the pair of them towards the aforementioned evidence room, proving that she was familiar with its location. "You've spoken about most everything else, and we're about to intimately examine every item — your reason for coming to me — I confess myself curious before we start," she paused and looked at him, a brow partially raised despite the smile on her face. "What did they say?"
Harry grabbed Elaine's hand, entered the runic combination for the wards to allow them access to the evidence room, and after a quick charm cast for privacy's sake, he answered her question. They had been a touch reckless before with their conversations, and so he was certain not to allow that to happen again.
It didn't matter if Grindelwald's forces were broken and the man himself, for the time being, was dead.
"They said that their Uncle G hasn't been around for quite some time, a good few months and that no Owls or post for him has found his person. They're pretty worried about him, enough so that they've requested I aid the Greek Government in the search for their wayward companion," Harry ran a hand through his hair out of stress at the same time he closed his eyes. "I had thought that he might be a lead, a very vital one at that, and I was wrong."
"It was worth the time it took to write the letter," Elaine said as she kissed his chin and the edge of his lips.
Harry shook his head. "I'll have to search for him myself."
"Let dead men sleep. We've got our hands more than full with one of them," Elaine said, her tone partially joking, partially serious.
He couldn't help but laugh at that on account of the absurdity of the statement and the truth of it. They truly were up to their necks in parchment, politics and problems on account of one dead man that refused to stay in hell where he belonged. "I suppose we do… still, I think after we've heard back from Corene and Slughorn Senior, if neither proves helpful, we have to check on him — it could be helpful to do so regardless of what they say."
Elaine pulled a face that wasn't all that approving, and yet, nonetheless, she nodded along with him. "If you wish it so, we'll see it through."
You disagree, I know you do, but we can't afford to leave one stone unturned regardless of whether or not that stone's one hundred or one thousand miles away.
"This is everything?" Elaine asked, speaking again as she gestured to the small, dust-covered room with crates all over the place.
Harry shook his head at the same time he couldn't help but take a peak into their connection. He couldn't see her thoughts, but through that connection, he couldn't feel deception or anything else negative. She knew where the room was, but not the secrets therein; he was thankful there was something else she didn't inherently seem to have knowledge in regards to.
It meant that, prior to this moment, she herself had never tried to meddle with the Auror Corps short of Aster and Reinhard — Merlin, Reinhard… Harry would see the man's family, and afterwards, he'd pay a visit to his friend's resting place. Ashley, Aster and the others would have to come too. It'd almost be like the old days in the Slytherin common room.
Almost.
"Very elaborate," Elaine commented as the ground opened up to reveal stairs awash with flickering orange torchlight. "I don't suppose you'll show me the exact pattern you made as you muttered the incantation, will you?"
"Later, if you're good," Harry said with a teasing grin as he gestured to the stairs. "Carefully. It has a few chipped and decaying stairs that haven't been fixed. We never got around to it."
"What if I'm scared to go first?" Elaine asked, her tone girlish as she held her hands behind her back and gazed at where he stood near the runic keys.
"Please," he said, a knowing look shot her way. "I doubt anything or anybody scares you, and unless you know how to do so perfectly right, I have to close the stairs behind us. There's another way out once we're deeper in."
Elaine pouted at him. "You'll never let me play the role of the maiden in distress."
"I thought my maiden was eager to see the evidence of nearly fifty raids," Harry retorted as he moved towards the stairs and pulled her along with him. "I'll be right behind you, you can stay on the sixth or seventh step and watch me if you'd like."
At the offer, she nodded and leaned against the wall on the fifth step. "As you will, my love. It's always very relaxing to see you with your wand out. Your power, speed and confidence have grown nearly tenfold in my humble opinion."
Harry rolled his eyes. If she wasn't sucking up to him, she was praising herself — she had been his teacher for many a subject and spell, so anything that she said to him was a minor pat on her own back too. Still, as Elaine as that was, Harry quickly went to work closing the hidden passage behind them and after doing so, he found himself face to face with Elaine, only this time, he was nearly six inches taller.
"This feels odd," Elaine commented as she inclined her head to look up at him. "Extraordinarily odd."
"Remember when you were nearly this much taller than me?" Harry asked with a grin as he folded his arms and looked at her, the orange glow on her face and the flickering of it dancing across her face.
Even in the dim torchlight, she was quite the sight. Her paleness wasn't as pronounced, but her black hair and darker eyes in addition to the dark clothing she oft wore made her seem as if she were some sort of seductress made in the minds of men and given a body by those same thoughts. In some ways, she seemed the devil she could pass as in the current moment, and yet, that fondness and affection in her eyes were too bright to be fake.
Harry couldn't resist himself. He pressed his lips to Elaine's and smiled when she melted into him. Whether it was a minute or a scant few seconds, the kiss they shared was as warming and emotion-heavy as ever, and when they pulled back whenever they did, no words were shared as they started along their journey once more.
They simply contented themselves in one another's presence, and as time continued to pass, they made certain in the dark passage to stay connected by way of joint hands. Eventually, their journey in the dark came to an end when they reached a large, metallic door with the image of a palm pressed into the centre of the door.
It was here that, much like Slytherin's Study tucked away in the Hogwarts Basement in an old, dank abandoned classroom, Harry found himself face to face with similar magic. There were no books that flew about as there was in the study, and there certainly was no portrait of some man, Slytherin or not; it was the entrance. As was the case of the door handle in the office, one had to press their hand upon the entrance, and in doing so, it would take from them a drop of blood.
It was a parchment cut's worth if even that, and after a split-second, the door was opened of its own volition and in Harry went with Elaine hot on his heels. This time, there was no comment about the state of the room, for this portion was the true portion, and all that saw it would forever be in awe of the pure time and work that went into the room's creation.
What Elaine and Harry saw together, was larger than the hall of prophecies. The shelves were thrice as tall and five times as long, if not longer, and that wasn't even mentioning the sheer number of shelves that existed in the room. He had counted to forty-nine at one point, and as he learned, more were created and kept out of view by way of an illusionary charm until such a time came that they were needed. It was astounding to think that a few wizards and witches had made this area so long ago, and moreso when one realised this was still standing with all of the old magic still functional.
"You failed to mention this," Elaine finally let out as she turned to look at him, her eyes staying on him for all of a moment before they sought out the background beyond him. "How far back does it go?"
"Beyond the creation of the Ministry by two years, so I've been told," Harry answered, gesturing to the forty-ninth aisle."That's where everything we're after is kept. Grindelwald has his own quarter of the aisle… I figured it would be best to keep the others with access out so that nothing goes missing or acts up without us around to ensure the safety of those who would give in to more base desires."
"Theft," Elaine said.
Harry nodded. "But here we are, more the fool to me, I figure."
"I'm the Minister," Elaine said with a pat on his back as she grabbed his hand once more and pulled him along, in the direction of the aisle that he had mentioned. "Should the need arise, I'll create a new law to grant me direct access to this vault. More likely than not, McMacson won't care that I'm here so long as peace is restored — he'll be quite happy with a post as my third too. It'll leave him in charge once you and I go on our honeymoon."
"You aren't worried that he'll try and seize power while we're away?" Harry asked, surprised. He was certain that she would be. The man wasn't as well-connected as Elaine and he together were, that was true, but by himself, he was still a force to be reckoned with and led a sizable minority himself. Should we wish it, he could be problematic, but not unbeatable.
"Of course not. Why would I be worried when nearly nine out of ten senior positions are taken by those that serve you or I?" Elaine scoffed, kissed Harry, and burst through the curtain he had put up. The sign fell to the floor.
Neither restored it to its proper position.
"There's much more here than the list made it seem," were the first words out of Elaine's mouth as they stopped to view the large collection of Grindelwald goodies — it was the first time that either had seen what the Auror Corps had collected, and he had to admit, she was right.
"I don't believe there was any mention that the list we were sent was incomplete… I suppose most of the items were a bit larger than we thought," Harry gestured to a large gargoyle that had to be placed on its back on the top shelf. "That alone takes up nearly a tenth of the space up top."
"Is this place ever cleansed?" Elaine questioned as she turned back to look whence they had come from. There was a quality in her eyes that he wasn't overly fond of when she asked that, and Harry tried his best to ignore it lest they argue.
"Any unsolved crimes of any sort have the evidence left in here, and if a crime is solved, the evidence is returned to those that it belonged to… for the most part. Obviously, there are some instances where it's kept or destroyed, but by and large, everything is accounted for on a series of automatically-updating ledgers," Harry gestured to the front entrance when he remembered that detail and smiled.
Elaine wouldn't likely risk stealing anything if she assumed there was a written history of what was meant to be within the confines of the places walls. At least, he thought she wouldn't do so.
"Interesting," was her answer, and before he knew it, her wand was out and pointed towards the gargoyle. "Let's see if this is a trap."
Harry tried to stop her, but h—
He blinked, and Elaine was before him. Her eyes were staring into his searchingly, and when she took notice of that, she sighed, clearly at ease. "I believe the others missed something or multiple somethings. I can't be certain of the latter."
"Did it do it to you too?" he asked as he rubbed at his eyes and tried to clear the feeling of fog from his mind that had suddenly sprung up. "What was it? What happened?"
Elaine kept a hand on his shoulder and in the other, her wand stayed at the ready. "No. I wasn't sought after, not when you were here and ready for whatsoever he wanted. I had thought he'd subjugated your mind for a moment — don't look or mind the item. It's what you pointed out, there's something in it, festering, lingering. It seeks you out as readily as its owner had."
The Gargoyle, Harry thought as he used his willpower to resist the urge to look at or near the item. There was something wrong with it, very wrong with it. In fact, based on the expression Elaine wore on her face and what had just happened to him in addition to her words, he figured they had just found the first of the three items they sought after.
Why it wasn't reported as such was a mystery, and Harry swore that he would find out who was responsible. That was a tremendous oversight and one that couldn't be allowed. Not when it put his life and those of many others at risk.
"How do we destroy it?" Harry whispered, his voice low as he remembered that Horcruxes had many built-in defence mechanisms… he wasn't certain of them all, but he knew by and large, they were quite brutal.
"I'll see to that — you trust me, don't you?" Elaine locked his eyes from moving by fixing him with a stare that conveyed much and more, and in doing so, Harry couldn't help but nod.
There was little he could do to turn her down. Mayhaps he had failed his job to keep her in check, maybe love had blinded him… he didn't know. All he knew, was that he readily agreed with much and more she said recently, and above all, now, he trusted her with everything. That wasn't a recent revelation, but it was most certainly a striking one should she ever fall without his realising of that fact.
"I do," he finally got out as he swallowed the spit that had been pooling in his mouth. "What do we do?"
Elaine smiled. She had a plan, he could see that.
He hoped it worked as well as her ideas usually did.
It was nearly twenty minutes later, and Elaine had decided to go over their plan one more time to ensure that he understood what she was asking him to do. There would be a degree of danger, there always was, but seldom was she as nervous as she was in the present. That did little to put him at ease, far from it, in fact. But still, he realised that like Grindelwald, the item was very interested in him for whatever reason.
Elaine had so many theories, too many to hear where they were, but they needn't be said. If it was Grindelwald or related to the man, it seemed that it would have an unhealthy and obsessive interest in Harry.
"You'll look at the Gargoyle, call to it, have it open itself to you — speak the words of House Peverell if you'd like, call to Grindelwald if you think it wise, but should anything appear or a problem makes itself known, call to me from your mind," Elaine's grip on either shoulder tightened as her voice grew deeper, more serious and her eyes turned hard. "Even if you're unable to call to me or move, I'll always feel what you do, and your mind, so long as it's open, will have a hole in the barrier for me to enter through."
Harry nodded, his resolve was as steel and his mind was made up from when first Elaine had spoken. It was her that had taken nearly twenty minutes to impress upon him the importance of their success and his safety. That wasn't too surprising, not when she seemed beyond nervous in the presence of the Horcrux.
I'll have to ask if we lost any Aurors when we make it back up there. If we did, I think I know what did it.
"I'm ready," Harry finally said, cutting Elaine off in the middle of a rant as he smiled comfortingly at her. One of his hands gripped hers then too, applying a bit of reassuring pressure in tandem with his look. "We don't know what else is down here, you've said so yourself — let's not waste time lingering."
Elaine nodded, a look of nervousness flashing across her features as quickly as a bolt of lightning might in a thunderstorm, and afterwards, she was confident, smiling and had her nose raised to the sky. "If there's anything else, we'll handle it the same way we handle the current issue, darling," she said before she pressed one last and ferocious kiss to his lips.
When she began to move away from him, her feet echoing across the stone floor in the direction of the exit, he began to count. Forty-five seconds was the time that they had decided he would wait before he looked up at the gargoyle, and whilst that might seem long, they had opted to be safe rather than sorry.
With mind magic, blood magic or dark magic, safety always had to be a priority so long as one wished for a positive outcome.
sixteen… seventeen… eighteen
Harry continued to count as silence reigned supreme, and in doing so, he allowed his thoughts to run rampant for what few seconds he had left. Immediately, his mind sought out Corene and Slughorn Senior; would either suggest their current plan? How would they change it?
He shook his head as he reached the thirtieth second. Even if they would change it, the odds of success wouldn't be nearly as high unless Harry acted the part of tantalising bait. Grindelwald, for better or worse, had an obsession with all things Peverell that was likely never going to end, and if that would prove helpful in destroying what remained of the man's earthly presence, Harry would do what was required of him.
It didn't matter if he was at risk so long as others weren't.
Forty-five
Harry swallowed, opened his mind as well as his eyes and finally, sought out the gargoyle again; it was this second time around that he noticed something. It seemed to have morphed, and its mouth was open, showing him a dark glow in the back of its throat that seemed to call to him.
There was a myriad of visions that danced across his eyes, too many to count or make sense of. He thought that he might lose himself to them, that he might fail to realise his dreams, that the fall of all those he cared for would come to fruition.
He closed his eyes, sought the comfort that was Elaine and waited until everything was alright.
Harry coughed. That was the first thing he did when he rose, for the feeling of breathlessness and a tickle in the back of his throat proved too much to handle. When he was finished with his fit of dry coughs, he rubbed at his eyes and sought out the single presence he could make out.
"This isn't the evidence room," he said in jest. "You haven't taken me home already, have you?"
As soon as he spoke, the figure came completely into view and smiled at him. "You're one to talk," Elaine responded. "It's you that urges me back home when the evening grows late."
"If I don't, you'll work straight through the night and you won't even eat."
"I'm lucky to have you."
Harry grinned at those words. "That's always very enjoyable to hear… I'm guessing everything went according to plan?" he paused and looked at the bed he found himself in. "Close to according to plan?" he amended.
"Close," Elaine agreed as she looked deeply into his eyes, her gaze was searching and nurturing. That worried him more than Grindelwald's Gargoyle had, for Elaine had prepared him for its tricks and deceptions.
That didn't make them feel any less horrible, but it granted him confidence and resolve. Enough so that he had survived whatever it had attempted to do to him.
"Did you destroy the Gargoyle?"
Elaine shook her head. "It wasn't the Gargoyle, there was an object within it, a crude imitation of an object you originally encountered back in," Elaine paused, furrowed her brows and looked at him again. "First year, I believe. His attempt was far from perfect, and it was destroyed, as was the portion of his soul trapped within it."
Philosopher's stone, that's what she means… that's what she has to mean. There isn't anything else it could be.
"I'm glad you destroyed it," Harry said with another dry cough.
"We won't hunt it in that manner again. Rest assured, the risk was beyond what I expected and I shan't take it again. I love you," Elaine said the latter three words randomly, and with enough force of surprise that he nearly choked on the little saliva he still had.
He blinked at her in return. "I love you too," he answered when he got himself under control.
It must have been more dangerous… closer to the end, my end, if she's saying that.
Finally, Elaine sent over a tray of water to him and gestured over her shoulder to a tray of snacks. "Laddey and Momsey insisted that they do everything, and I'll not step between those two when it comes to you — I've no idea why, but the two house elves are thoroughly invested in you."
"They're kind friends," Harry said matter-of-factly as he sat up to drink the water and regard Elaine from a better vantage point. She seemed normal, without wounds and strong as ever. He wasn't sure what had happened from the time he had gone under, and he doubted she would speak about it; he wouldn't prod her today, but in the coming few days, he would.
"You're a kind owner," Elaine returned as she finally came over to sit beside him. "When next we try something foolish such as that, I'll be sure to recall this moment and your incapacitation. I won't use you as bait again despite your urging, and if you do so again, I'll stun you and tie you to the bed — I'm the Minister, and as I've said, I'll pass laws as necessary."
Harry snorted. His stubbornness knew no bounds. "What sort of law will you try and pass? One that says husbands are to be kept tied up until their wife gets home?"
"That's barbaric," Elaine said with a stern shake of her head. "Only my husband and the law I'll pass is that all members of House Peverell need nought be harassed by the commonfolk or those that would bother them, and they'll be paid for all of the time they lost and innovations they generated for our society, ensuring you don't need to work, nor our children, grandchildren and so on as the time goes by."
Somehow, I think that'll have a hard time passing.
"How about I stay at the house when I'm no longer needed, yeah? That sounds better to me than being stuck tied to a bed, and before you say it, I promise I won't look at any more Gargoyles or Grindelwald monsters so long as I can help it," Harry smiled and gestured to the sheets then. "Could I get up?"
"I suppose I could let you get up, but I've heard there's a price."
"What's that?"
Elaine stayed silent, looked around as if she were conspiring, and then, she tapped her lips. There were no words shared, but her message was clear. There was a toll to pay if he wished to rise, and that toll was a kiss on Elaine's lips. There were far worse prices he had paid in his life thus far, and that one, he would pay with a smile on his face.
One that lasted until he was out of breath, and it was whilst he was gasping for air that another joined in on his and Elaine's moment in their bedroom.
"Harry Peverell sir is back!" Laddey cheered as the elf's small body tackled Harry, the weight doing nothing to push him back into the bed, least of all with Elaine on his other side acting as a sort of support.
"I am," Harry agreed as he returned Laddey's hug. "I'm perfectly fine too — thank you, Laddey, and tell Momsey thanks for me as well, yeah? You two are some of the greatest friends a wizard could have."
Laddey's eyes went wide — very wide — as the elf made to speak only for his mouth to fail him. There seemed to be many words he wished to say to Harry, but failing to do so, he hugged the man again. That went on for some time, perhaps even as long as Harry's kiss with Elaine, and when the house-elf finally pulled away, rubbing at his eyes and blowing his nose in his shirt, Harry felt nearly as elated as he had with Elaine's presence.
Just as in his original time, there were those who loved him, cared for him and wished to see him do well. He wouldn't fail them.
When Laddey left and it was back to Harry and Elaine, he instantly turned to regard her, and when he did, he couldn't help the satisfied smile when he saw how she was looking at him; lustfully and with lips that were still wet with saliva.
"I heard another secret or two whilst you were out," Elaine said, leaning towards him, her voice but a whisper.
Harry swallowed as his eyes sought out her own, flickered down to her lips, and then back and forth his gaze went. It was hard to focus on any one piece of her perfection. "What's that?"
She moved closer, and her voice was quieter still. "There are more tolls to pay, and I fear that, with all of those combined, you'll be stuck here for the remainder of the day."
He couldn't help it as he broke into a wide smile, his eyes staring directly into hers. There, just as with the link, he could see her affection, her love and the many emotions swirling around within her. "I think I can manage that."
Those were the last words shared between the victorious, happy couple for the evening.
Harry wished life could always be so sweet.