Word Count: 2635
Warnings: Concussion
Of Stacked Books and Soulmates
The library was ever quieter than it usually was. Not that Draco was ever going to complain about that; he didn't like people on a good day, and he came to the old building specifically for peace. It always annoyed him when he found it bustling with people who, while attempting to whisper, were actually about as noisy as a student union bar on 'half-price' night.
He wandered the aisles, paying little attention to what section he was actually in. He'd grab a couple of books that he needed before he left, but for the moment, he was just enjoying the peace, and the subtle scent of books that permeated the air.
He didn't notice the pile of books that had been left on the floor until it was too late, and he was flailing for a grip he didn't find, falling forwards into a shelf before he landed on the floor.
"Ouch," he muttered, sitting up slowly, rubbing at his bruised ribs, and checking his head with his other hand. It was throbbing slightly.
As he pushed himself to his feet, he frowned when he noticed the layers of dust across both the shelves and the books on them. He examined the higher levels of books, and realised that he didn't recognise any of them, nor were the words on the spines in any language he'd ever seen.
He continued down the aisle, careful now of stray books left on the floor, and occasionally blew dust away to get a closer look at an interesting looking spine, but it wasn't until he got to the very last shelf in the row that he felt the need to actually inspect one of the books closely.
The spine of it was well worn—even more so than any of the others—and as he picked it up cautiously, gently running a hand over the front cover to clean off some of the age-old muck, he felt an odd jerk at his navel.
Crying out, he closed his eyes as he felt the world rushing around him, until it stopped suddenly, and he felt himself land, once again, on the floor.
Blinking his eyes open, he cringed against the sudden brightness that absolutely hadn't been in the library, until his eyes adjusted. When they did, he checked his surroundings carefully.
He was lying on a hard marble floor, and he could see white columns everywhere, some of them decorated with elaborate looking vines and flowers. The sound of running water distracted him, and he turned slightly to see a large, magnificently beautiful water fountain.
"Are you quite done?" a voice asked, sounding exasperated.
Draco rolled over, and was jolted by the sudden realisation that he was at the foot of a throne. Looking up, he saw a man staring down at him, his eyebrow raised.
Scrambling to his feet, and being sure to keep a tight hold of the book, Draco bit his lip. He didn't even know where he was, never mind who the man was, and he wasn't really sure what to say.
"Oh," the man said, rolling his eyes when he spotted the book. "You're one of those visitors."
He slumped in the throne, any interest he'd had clearly gone.
"Boring," the man complained, eyeing Draco distastefully with the greenest eyes Draco had ever seen.
Draco frowned, looking around the palatial surroundings. He could only draw the conclusion that he must have hit his head even harder than he'd realised, when he'd fallen in the library.
"I'm going to call you Harry," he informed the man in the throne, for want of anything else to say.
'Harry' leant forwards in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees, his interest apparently drawn once more. "Harry? Why?"
Draco shrugged. "You kinda look like a Harry, I guess."
"Have you got any idea who I am?"
Tilting his head to the side slightly, Draco replied, "You're Harry."
"I'm Zeus," Harry corrected, glaring at Draco.
"Like the Greek, I'm-gonna-smite-you-with-lightning, Zeus?" Draco asked, taking a hasty step back from the throne. "Well, why didn't you say so, Harry?"
Harry stared at Draco for a moment, before he lifted his hand to sweep his messy dark hair back from his face, revealing a lightning bolt, clear as day, on his forehead. Draco's eyes widened, and he cringed internally. He was so about to get smited.
"What's your name, Mortal?"
"Um. I'm Draco."
"Right," Harry said, nodding once before he swiftly pushed himself to his feet. "That book that you're holding like it's a newborn baby, that's the soulmate finder. So, that means that, somewhere up here, your soulmate is awaiting you. And since you've fallen at my feet, it looks like it's up to me to help you find them."
"Alright, Harry, but I don't actually want a soulmate, so why don't you just go on ahead and send me right back to the library. I'll put the book back on the shelf and everything. Promise."
"Harry? Really? You're going to keep going with that?"
Draco nodded. "Probably. Harry is far less intimidating than King-of the-gods-I'm-going-to-beat-you-with-my-lightning-bolt-Zeus, in all fairness."
"Shorter, too," Harry replied, looking amused despite himself. "Come on then, Draco, let's go and find your soulmate."
"How will I know who it is?" Draco asked.
"When you've met everyone, you look inside the cover of the book, and it'll have the first words the God spoke to you, written on the first page."
"Why can't I just look after every meeting?" Draco asked.
Harry shrugged. "It doesn't work that way."
"But why?"
"I don't know. Ask Aphrodite when you meet her. It's her fault, she was the one who made the thrice cursed thing."
Draco followed Harry across the marble floor, half-hiding behind his escort as they approached a man sitting in the fountain, splashing in the water with a scowl on his face.
"This is Posiedon," Harry introduced, waving his hand at the water dweller.
"Trident-Smiter. Right. You look like a Percy."
"You really have a thing for smiting, don't you?" Harry asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"And why on earth do I look like a Percy?"
Draco shrugged at the man sitting in the water. "You just kinda look like one. I don't know why, I didn't make the rules."
"Why is this mortal renaming me, Zeus?"
"It appears to be his thing," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you. And he's here because he's got the soulmate finder. We're stuck with him for now."
"Ta very much," Draco snorted, eyeballing Harry. "Rude."
Percy snorted. "Well, you'd best go and find his soulmate then, hadn't you?"
"Don't be an asshole," Harry replied. "Talk to him for a minute, you know how it goes. The water isn't going to escape if you let it be for a moment."
"I don't think that Percy is my soulmate," Draco announced. "I can't swim. It would be an entire disaster."
"Seriously though, Mortal? Why Percy? Can't I have a cooler name, or you know, my own name? Seriously?"
"Seriously… Sirius. Sirius is a good name. You could be a Sirius," Draco offered. "Percy might be a bit bland, now that I think about it. I mean… Trident smiting doesn't really fit with a Percy, does it? Sirius the Trident Smiter! Yeah. Okay. Okay, Sirius."
Harry and the newly dubbed Sirius watched Draco ramble, and then shared a look.
"Good luck," Poseidon offered his brother, raising his eyebrow at Draco, who was still rambling. "You're probably going to need it. And Heaven have mercy on us all if he starts doing this when you take him to meet Athena; she'll kill him with a glare. Or a book."
"No shit," Zeus muttered, shaking his head. "Come on, Draco, time to go."
"Zeus! What are you doing over here?" Aphrodite called, looking up from where she was lounging on her favoured seat.
Draco looked at the woman, and his eyes widened almost comically when he realised that she wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing. She was covered only by a strategically placed strip of very pale pink silk.
"Your blasted soulmate finder," Harry replied, pushing Draco forwards a little. "This is Draco. Try not to give this one PTSD, won't you?"
"Well, hello," Aphrodite murmured, eyeing Draco appreciatively.
Draco found himself immediately overwhelmed by the strong scent of Lavender, and he blinked.
"Lavender," he murmured.
He heard Harry snort just behind him.
"Lavender?" Aphrodite questioned.
"Our mortal here likes to rename us," Harry explained. "I think that you've just been dubbed a 'Lavender'."
She tilted her head, and then smiled slowly. "I believe that I can live with that. Lavenders are so pretty, after all." She glanced at Draco. "Come closer, young man, let me see you properly."
She held out her hand elegantly towards him, but Draco shook his head, and then sneezed, violently.
"Allergies," he managed to get out, between sneezes. "Can we—" he sneezed— "move on now?"
He was led away from Lavender by Harry, who was laughing heartily.
"That might even have been worth the inconvenience of dragging you around Olympus," he chortled.
As Draco's head cleared, he glanced at Harry. "Who's next?"
Harry introduced him in turn to Apollo, Artemis and Demeter, who he quickly redubbed as Colin, Luna and Neville, respectively. Not once since his arrival had he felt a pull to any of the gods and goddesses he was meeting, but he couldn't deny that he was having fun bantering with his guide.
"Ares! Soul finder," Harry called, eyeballing a muscled man. He was polishing a chariot of the fiercest red Draco had ever seen in his entire life.
"Bloody hell, another one? What on earth was Aphrodite thinking when she made that blasted book?"
Harry shrugged. "You tell me. You're… closer to her than I have ever been."
Draco looked between the two gods. The tension was practically sizzling in the air, and Draco took a small step closer to Harry.
Ares stared Draco up and down critically for a moment, and then sneered. "You wouldn't make a good soldier," he said. "I'll pass."
"Okay, Barty," Draco agreed. He wanted to walk away, but he couldn't quite manage to tear his eyes away from the flame red chariot.
Barty might be an asshole, but he had a sweet ride.
From the corner of his eye, he caught Harry wincing, but that didn't stop him from taking a step closer, curious.
"Did you mortal just call me Barty?" the man demanded, looking disgusted.
Before Harry could answer, Draco bent down to look at a cage in the floor. A young man was in there—he looked around Draco's age, if he had to guess—his clothes threadbare. He was shivering violently.
"Can you let me out of here, Mister?" the man asked, staring pitifully up at Draco.
Harry pulled Draco out of the way, as Barty stormed over.
"Leave him alone," Harry growled, when Barty reached for him, glaring at him. "He doesn't know anything about how things work up here, so back off."
"Hmm," Barty replied, changing the direction of his glare from Draco to Harry. "If you say so, Zeus. Better hope that you don't get my words in that book you're clinging to, Mortal, or you'll be down in the hole with him."
Draco didn't dawdle when Harry led him away.
"Barty is an asshole," Draco decided, outloud.
Harry snorted. "You know about the Greek Gods," he said, after a moment. "You're clearly very well aware of who we all are, you're intelligent. Why are you insistent on renaming us?"
"Mostly to amuse myself, and remind myself that this isn't real," Draco replied, meeting Harry's eyes. "Besides, you said that this book means that I'm someone's soulmate up here, right? If this is real—which, statistically, is the most unlikely, by the way—I'm fairly sure that none of you want to kill your family member's soulmate. So. That means that I'm relatively safe."
"Perhaps," Harry replied, thoughtfully. "Although, I wouldn't bank on that saving you. You haven't met Athena yet. While we are loyal to one another, it would not go well for you should you irritate her."
Next came Hephaestus, whom Draco renamed Blaise, because of the blaze of fire surrounding him. They hadn't stayed long enough for Draco to find out what the handsome man had been working on, unfortunately.
"Athena," Harry said, as they approached the very far corner of the large hall, "will not appreciate being renamed. Please, if you value your life, do not."
Draco stayed silent as they approached a fierce looking woman. She was absolutely stunning—if not severe—and her hair was pulled up into a tight bun.
"Zeus," she greeted, offering him a polite nod, and a half smile. "Word is that you've found yourself a mortal to guide."
Harry nodded to Draco.
"Ah, yes, the little blond one. Tell me child, how is it that you managed to infuriate Ares quite so much?"
"I, uh, called him Barty."
Athena frowned. "Why on earth would you do such a thing?"
"He says that it's to help him remember that none of this is real," Harry explained, before Draco could say anything himself.
"Ah. Quite. Well, I'm busy, so… goodbye, Mortal." She nodded to Zeus. "Brother."
Harry led Draco away, and let out a breath of relief. "That could have been much worse than it was, trust me. Athena is the most intelligent woman to ever exist, but the tongue lashings that woman can give when she's a mind for it are absolutely terrifying."
Draco nodded, walking a little closer to Harry. He knew that he'd met all of those that lived on Mount Olympus, and yet, he had absolutely no idea who's words he would find in the book.
They returned to Harry's throne, and Harry took his seat, waving a negligent hand at the book Draco had been carrying throughout their journey.
Draco opened the book, swallowing nervously. He watched as, in an elegant scroll, words appeared quite by magic on the first page.
"Are you quite done?"
"Not the most romantic first words in the world," Draco muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Who did you get?" Harry asked, arching his eyebrow. "I'm betting on Ares, personally. You and he will get on like a house on fire… literally."
Draco turned the book, so that Harry could read the words.
"Son of a Titan's testical," Harry muttered. "Why did I have to get the addled one?"
Draco stumbled back, closing his eyes. He was hurt by Harry's words, but also, very ready to recover from the oddest concussion of his life. He just wanted to get back to reality.
He squeezed his eyes tight, and muttered, "wake up, wake up, wake up."
"Draco?"
He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and he blinked his eyes open. He found himself lying on the library floor, staring up into the greenest eyes.
"Zeus?"
"Not quite," the man chuckled softly. "I'm Harry, the new librarian. I introduced myself to you earlier, when you first arrived. Stay still, okay? There's an ambulance on the way."
"Harry," Draco murmured, a small smile on his face. "The book said that Harry was my soulmate, you know?"
Draco felt like he was floating, until he heard a few snippets of conversation above him.
"... how long…"
"... loud bang. I heard it from the front of the library…"
"... bad concussion…"
He was lifted onto a stretcher, but he wouldn't let go of the hand still holding his.
"Harry, come with me. Don't leave me."
"Don't worry," he heard. "I'm right here."
The squeeze of his hand told Draco that all was well. It might not be Zeus, but he believed that the soulmate finder might have done its job anyway.