Siphoning

Kahmu woke up and stretched. He looked around. Draco was sitting next to Harry, stroking his hair slowly. Did Harry still have nightmares? He wasn't sure asking was appropriate, even though her was curious to know. At least he didn't act like he was abused any more. That was always something. Mages with linked wells. He was pretty sure he had heard a story like that when he was little. It brought immense power, but it could be really dangerous too. He wasn't sure how real the stories were, though.

Draco rose and Kahmu lowered his shield. "Is he okay?" Kahmu asked.

Draco looked at him. "He will heal in time," he said.

"The two of you share history?" Kahmu asked.

"I first meet him on his eleventh birthday," Draco said. "I was a stuck up snob, and I didn't know how to make friends, so I failed to become his friend, even though I really wanted to. For years, we were rivals, and then we ended up on opposite sides in the Second British Wizarding War. We saved each other. Our lives have intersected and revolved around each other for a long time." He brought out things for breakfast and glanced over at Harry. "We just needed to grow up enough to accept that the world isn't black and white."

Kahmu smiled. "I'm just glad to see that he is with someone who loves him for him and not the fame or any of the other nonsense he was worried about," he said.

Draco nodded. "No, his fame is more of a turn-off, but since he doesn't want it either, I don't hold him accountable," he said. "Besides, most people can't tell that they are the same person. The teenager and the man he is now."

"You grew up rich, and he grew up in a cupboard under the stairs," Kahmu said. "Your story almost makes it sound like I should accept Erys."

Draco snorted. "I find the guy abrasive," he said. "I grew up. I changed, and I realised that the way I was, wasn't the way I wanted to be. No, I would not compare our pasts that way. It is not the same."

Kahmu looked over at Harry as he sat up slowly. His eyes widened as he saw the glowing chain hanging from his neck. "He is not an animal to be leashed," he said as his brows furrowed.

Draco snorted. "If you even for a second think that I could do anything to him without his permission, then you are delusional," he said. "Harry is powerful enough to protect himself."

Kahmu looked from Harry to Erys. He did recall a certain conversion involving the annoying man and him being turned into a splatter on the wall. Harry had been powerful even then, but he had nine years of experience since then. He doubted he had become less powerful. "We might have a Lich in this temple," he said.

Draco sighed. "Great," he said.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Kahmu says there might be a Lich," Draco said.

"Well, I guess we'll have to deal with that before leaving then," Harry said. "Most people working a dig like this does not have our combat experience."

Draco nodded. "I guess you are right," he said. "First we need to get out of here, though."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard," Harry said. He turned to Kahmu. "Who do you have up top?" he asked. "Someone I have met, preferably."

"Duncan is there and Master Sikka," Kahmu said.

"Good enough," Harry said. He held his hand out and summoned a glowing wolf. "Find Sikka or Duncan and show them the way."

"Could send it to Norgu if you want nothing to happen," Kahmu said with laugher in his voice.

Harry laughed and grabbed onto Draco tightly. "Yeah, sure sounds like a great idea," he said in a sarcastic tone.

Eve woke up as Harry and Draco finished making breakfast, and they woke Erys up so he could eat as well.

"Piss me off, and I will silence you today," Draco said.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Erys asked.

"No, and I somehow doubt it outranks me being Lord Black," Draco said. "Just because you have influence and money doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it. I learnt that the hard way."

"So you found yourself a Lord you could whore yourself off too," Erys sneered at Harry.

"Considering I was the only Lord Black before we married, that isn't really the case. I have tired of listening to you now, so you will have to do without a voice for the rest of the journey," Harry said.

"You can't even hear him, love," Draco said.

"No, but I remember what he sounds like. The memory is grating enough," Harry said. "Let's go." He made sure they had everything packed and his pouch was secure before he stepped out through the ward. He would just leave it. They were proper wards, so he set them so that humans and goblins could use the room instead of tearing them down.

"Draco, I need your ears," Harry said.

"Always lovely to be wanted, my knight," Draco said. "Though I wish you were after something else."

Harry snorted. "As soon as we are out of here, love," he said. He took Draco's hand, and they walked in a steady pace before the others.

"So this looks an awful lot like just another hall," Draco said. "How big is this place?"

"Well, you did say there was a Lich," Harry said. "This isn't another hall. It is the same one." He looked around slowly. "I guess we are heading for the kitchens, this time." He paused suddenly after entering the corridor. "Kahmu." He turned around.

"Yeah, I see it," Kahmu said. He and Eve walked forward and knelt down. Harry watched them work for a bit before shaking his head. He walked up to Erys. "Behave and I won't silence you again," he said. "They need your help." He undid his spell and folded his arms over his chest. His eyes narrowed as the weave changed. "Oh, no, you don't," he said. "Centre me Draco." He reached into the weave and grabbed it, holding it in place. Whoever was pulling the strings was powerful, though. He focused his magic and made sure not to waste any of it.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and reached into his well with his own to centre him. He could see the weave. What Harry could do was so beautiful. He could taste the magic, so similar to that of the Dark Lord. It was disgusting. Was that the Lich?

"Thank you," Harry said as he split the weave and the three curse breakers dismantled it all. He took a deep breath. "Well, they know we are on our way now." He kissed Draco on the cheek. "Wanna kill a big evil Lich with me?" he asked innocently.

"Why not," Draco said while rolling his eyes. "I don't seem to have anything better to do on my honeymoon."

Harry turned around and kissed Draco's neck. "I'll do anything you want, my Prince," he whispered. "Anything."

Draco grinned. "Oh, I might have a few ideas of things I'd like to try," he breathed against Harry's lips. He took Harry's hand as he kissed him. "Let's go."

…

The room was dark. Why was it always dark?

Harry threw a light at the ceiling again. He liked being able to see. He raised the wards behind him before stepping into the room.

"What the… You think you can do this on your own?" Erys shouted.

"No," Harry said. "I'm not on my own." He held his hand out, and Draco walked past the others and moved through the ward.

"You step into my domain. Foolish human."

"I have been called so many things that there is little you can call me that will affect me," Harry said. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned slightly and saw a beautiful woman with long black hair and bright blue eyes.

"Am I beautiful?"

Harry let his eyes wander over her body. "Yes, you are beautiful," he said.

"You aren't too bad looking yourself."

"You falter me."

"Who is he talking to?" Eva asked.

Draco sighed. "The Lich," he said, he had stayed back once he moved through the ward. He would need to get closer now, though.

Harry turned around slowly and his eyes flashed blue rather than green. "Such a sweet vessel," the Lich said melodically. She walked up to Draco, then she felt herself falling to her knees before him.

"You can have my body," Harry said. "But you will belong to him. You will be under his control. I will bind you to him, twist your being to be his slave."

Draco reached out and summoned the chain hanging from Harry's neck as he reached out and placed his hand on his husband's head.

"No, you don't have the power," the Lich's voice came from, Harry's lips.

"But I do. And you better fuck off, or I'll have you please him," Harry said calmly. He felt Draco tug on his hair, forcing his head back. He reached up and unbuttoned Draco's pants. "I do this on a regular basis. Don't think I'm bluffing." He opened his memories to her and showed her every time he submitted to Draco. Every time he pleasured him. Laughter spilled from his lips as she withdrew from his mind.

Draco blinked. His eyes narrowed as a woman stood before him.

"Am I not beautiful?" she asked.

"What you look like is of no concern to me. I will never be attracted to you. You don't have the right equipment, lady," Draco said bluntly.

The Lich screamed in anger and pulled back from Draco as well. Her own body rose slowly. The once fine robes now tattered from decay. Her eyes were glowing blue lights in her empty skull.

Harry was scanning the room. He knew she was able to place wards, so she could have hidden her phylactery under layers of wards. He smiled as he found what he was looking for.

"How dare you defy me? I am the Lich Queen Vermissa. Long have I been sealed beneath the earth by these foolish snakes. But you and yours have set me free. Don't worry, sweet one. I shall raise your corpse to serve me once you fall.

Draco grinned. "Sorry, my Lady, but you are not using this body for anything," he said. He blocked her spells and sent magic right back at her. She was a single opponent, but he needed to use as little magic as possible until Harry gave the clear, just to save his reserves while he kept her occupied. "I do wonder why women like you think they can charm their way to what they want." He held his hand out. He had never managed to cast this spell himself, but Harry knew how to. "Expecto Patronum," he said, and light spread from his hand and turned into a soaring Dragon ready to strike.

Vermissa cried out as the light tore at her. "Disgusting," she called.

"I think he is quite beautiful," Draco said. "Prince." He bowed to the Patronus. "Far more beautiful than you could ever be. He dodged and blocked her spells.

"He really is trying to piss her off," Erys said. "Is that really all that smart."

"He is buying time for Harry," Kahmu said. "They need to reach her phylactery to stop her. It looks like she has warded it. Harry is a warder, not a curse breaker, so if there are curses in there he needs to be really careful."

"We could help," Erys said.

"Do you want to be possessed by the evil lady?" Eve asked. "She possessed Harry and failed with Draco because he pissed her off. I doubt you can stand against her. Can you feel the pressure of the magic in there?" It was insane, just how much magic these two had.

Harry placed runes in a wider and wider circle. He was linking wards together to create a focus beam that would hopefully cut straight through everything and take out the phylactery too. He just needed to weave everything together. He smiled as Draco kept insulting the Lich. His husband was clearly in his element.

Draco sent off another barrage of blasting curses. "Sure you could get out of here I guess, but you certainly don't have what it takes to make it in the world above," he said. "You would just fail." He threw ice in her face and heated it until it started boiling. A sharp hiss passed his lips as she cut into him. "Sectumsempra," he called, and the silvery spell cut deep gashes into her body.

"I will tear you apart!"

Hands rose from the ground and several skeletal bodies pulled through the stone.

"No you don't!" Harry screamed as he activated the runes he had laid to attack her. Any knowledge he had of the wards he had placed he buried deep and left only one single thought burning in his mind. Fire.

Vermissa turned her attention to Harry once more. She grabbed him and moved into his mind again.

"Fire, Draco," Harry said before his eyes turned blue once more.

Draco took a deep breath. He knew Harry had been up to something while they headed up the corridors to get to this room. He raised his hand. He would trust his husband. "Pestis Incendium," he cast. Fire spread from him and caught the undead rising around him. The fire licked at his clothes, burning them off, but the heat did not reach his skin.

Kahmu, Erys and Eve all moved back as their view was blocked by the raging fire.

"Kahmu?" Eve said in a terrified tone.

Kahmu entered magesight and tried his best to focus past the flames.

Harry walked up to Draco and fell to his knees once more as the fire whirled around them. They did not speak or threaten this time. Harry closed his eyes and gave Draco full control.

Vermissa tore away from the humans once more. She looked at the flames. They were unimportant. They could not hurt her with something as foolish as fire. The humans were sitting ducks. She raised a hand and attacked them while releasing a cackling laugh. Shadows overtook the fire for a moment. As the fire swept the darkness away again, her eyes narrowed. A bright shield had intercepted her attack.

Draco pulled Harry up to his feet and kissed him. "You are impossible, my Knight," he said.

Bright green eyes smiled and glowed with power as Harry turned around. He dug deep in his well and attacked her.

Shrill laughter escaped Vermissa. "No matter how hard you try, there is nothing you can do," she called. "I am immortal, and you are just two insignificant humans."

"That might be true," Harry said. "But you are not the first Lich to cross my path." He caught her next few spells with shields as Draco attacked her. They moved slowly until Harry was standing on top of her wards. He held his hand out and activated the wards. Light flooded the room as all the magic collected by the wards released all at once and a beam appeared, shooting down into the earth and up towards the sky.

Draco reigned the fire in until it was gone before looking around. There was nothing left. He drew a deep breath. He had received his adventure with Harry. He could do without another one. His eyes landed on Harry, and he smiled softly before pulling his pouch open so he could get them some new pants. He pulled his on before handing Harry a pair.

Harry grabbed them with a mumbled thank you and put them on before hugging Draco close. He was glad they were okay. Now he just wanted to head outside and relax. This was supposed to be their honeymoon, after all.

"You let her into your head twice," Draco said as he ran his fingers through Harry's hair.

"Sort of," Harry said. "She didn't really have any control. With time, maybe she could have done damage to me, but my magic was linked to yours. She couldn't really touch my mind past our protections. I had to send my memories at her to really show them." He wasn't worried about his mind. Not from this. Draco had been safe and that was all that mattered.

"We aren't immortal, right?" Draco asked jokingly.

Harry snorted. He walked up to Draco and touched the bleeding wounds on his arm. "You and I will grow old and die. Our magic, our power, is linked together. We cannot hurt each other with magic. I could still grab a knife and cut you. I could punch you. Maybe there is more our magic can do, but… do you really feel like that is something we need to look into?"

Draco sighed. "No, no, I don't think so," he said. "That would point to us fighting more. I have had my amazing adventure with you. Now I'd prefer to just live our lives together and raise our children to be good people."

Harry laughed. "That sounds amazing to me," he said.

Draco chuckled as he turned towards the door. "Maybe you should let the other's in here," he said.

Harry waved his hand, the ward disappeared, and the three people came running towards them.

"You two are insane," Kahmu stated.

Draco grinned. "What, you don't think that was a workable method to take down a Lich?" he asked. "I thought it was pretty good." He looked at Harry. "Is there a way out from here, love?"

Harry nodded. "There is a ward over there," he said as he pointed. "There are people on the other side," he said. "I shouldn't do anything else today. I'm not exhausted, but we are drained."

"Yeah," Draco said. "We could use some food and rest."

"I'll see what I can do," Kahmu said as he walked over to the door.

"How do you feel, love?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I want to get checked by a goblin healer, just to be sure that nothing is wrong."

"Sounds like a good idea," Draco said. "I wouldn't mind that, either."

Kahmu stepped away from the door as it was thrown open. "Master Sikka," he said happily.

"Thank heavens," Sikka said as she saw her former apprentice. She looked into the room and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I see that both Master Erys and Master Eve are okay. I would like to know how Master Black and his spouse are here. Weren't the two of you on your honeymoon, boys?" She had been to the wedding before going to this dig, so she was slightly surprised to see them.

"We ended up here sort of by accident, Clan Sister," Harry said.

"Saved my life from a pit of snakes and killed a bloody Lich," Eve said.

"There was a Lich here, then?" Duncan asked as he walked into the room and looked around. "The phylactery?" he asked.

Harry walked up to the place where the phylactery had been and pointed. "I super focused pure magic into it," he said.

"Did the Lich posses any of you?" Duncan asked.

"Me," Harry said.

"You need a team of healers then," Duncan said, though he didn't sound over worried. "We should get you out to get that."

"I will deal with that," Sikka said. "Come on, Masters Black. Let's make sure you are both doing well and are free from malevolent spirits."

Harry chuckled as he followed her. He took Draco's hand as they headed towards the door. They would have an intense few hours as they healers did everything they could to make sure they were okay.

…

The sun was setting slowly. Three more days had passed by, and it was time to head home soon. Draco lay against Harry, blinking slowly as Harry rubbed his fingers over his back in gentle stokes. "I miss our children," he said.

Harry smiled. "I do too, love," he said. "A few days off is nice, but two weeks is too much without them."

"Teddy turns eleven this year," Draco pointed out lazily.

"We are sending our first to Hogwarts," Harry said. "It feels strange. Ten years ago, I was working in the mines. I wasn't sure I would ever see the sun again."

Draco smiled softly. "Ten years ago, I was trying to convince Father I didn't need a wife. That I didn't want a damn wife, but he didn't care." He tapped his fingers on Harry's chest. "At least I have a husband now." He moved up and straddled Harry. He ran his fingers over his shoulders and down his arms. There were rope marks there showing that they had played. It wouldn't happen often, but they had enjoyed themselves. He was just glad Harry had liked everything he had wanted to try. He knew that meant they would do it again. "You make me happy," he said.

Harry chuckled. "My, my how come you are so sappy, my love," he said.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I can be sappy if I want to," he said. He leaned down and kissed Harry. "Now let's head home." He rose and pulled Harry with him. They headed back to camp and grabbed a portkey back to Gringotts. It was morning and their sleep schedule was going to be fucked for a few days.

"Time with Tatiana. Get that before we even leave here," Draco said.

"Are you okay with being prodded at for a bit longer. I would kind of like to have Glint look us over just to be sure," Harry said.

"We can do that," Draco said. "I'd rather be safe than sorry."

They headed down and into the medic bay. Glint smiled at them as they arrived. Her smile turned to a worried expression as she listened to them. She pushed them into a ritual room and had them both checked for several different things just to make sure they were fine. She looked the results over and shook her head slowly. "Your wells are slowly becoming one," she said.

"Any danger to us?" Draco asked.

"No, it is just unusual," Glint said. "It has been a while since the last time it happened. Have you noticed any changes?"

"We are immune to harmful spells cast by each other," Harry said. "We don't infuse the same any more."

Glint nodded. "That sounds like what we would have seen before. I will add you to the records now that I have confirmed," she said. "At least there is nothing wrong with the two of you. I can tell that you didn't eat for several days." She looked at them.

"It took Draco three days to return his consciousness to his body, and I couldn't leave the room we were in," Harry said.

"Would you be willing to give a detailed account of what happened?" Glint asked.

"Yes, but I need a few sessions with Tatiana before I can do so properly," Harry said. "I was convinced he died, and it broke me down. The bond between us is keeping me functional right now, but I know I need help, or he won't be able to leave my vicinity. We shouldn't have to live that way."

Glint smiled at him. "I will let her know," she said. "Take care, son."

Harry smiled back at her. "I will," he said. He took Draco's hand and pulled him along so they could head home without being rude. They smiled as their sons came running as soon as they stepped into the house. They would have to tell their boys what had happened. That would be one hell of a story, and they needed sleep before then. They did not have the energy for any of that right then.

…

Teddy closed his eyes and wrapped his arms tighter around Scorpius. Harry and Draco were telling them what had happened during the two weeks they had been on their honeymoon, and it was such a rollercoaster of emotions that they weren't quite sure what to do. "Don't leave home again," he said.

Harry smiled at him. "Well, we certainly aren't planing on fighting any more Liches," he said.

"We weren't planing on this one either, it just ended up that way," Draco said. They had decided their sons needed to know why Harry was quiet and in pain sometimes. It wasn't fair of them to keep that from their sons. They needed to understand what was going on when Harry broke down crying because Draco was out of the house.

Scorpius buried his face against Harry's shirt. "You hurt a lot," he said. "I don't want you to hurt." He let go of Teddy and clutched at Harry's shirt.

They had made it through almost a month without saying anything to them, but they couldn't keep going when Draco simply stepping aside to make a few potions sometimes had Harry disappearing into himself. At least now they knew what was going on and things were slowly getting better.

Harry tightened his hold on Scorpius and sighed heavily. The road to recovery would be rough, but he would get there in time. He always had before.