![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
bottomdraco-mod.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bottom_dracoTitle: Silent Dreams
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
olimakiella
Prompt: #057 bys0ulrunner
Pairing(s):H/D, Slight Ronald/Blaise
Summary: The land of Slytherin has always been highly sought for its riches. When old fashioned murder does not work, its neighbouring lands will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.
Rating: Very light R
Previous part
It was as if he had been hit by a boulder as the ground below him swallowed him whole. The grey-eyed man wasn’t saying anything now and Harry had to fight to remember if he’d actually heard him speak or if he was imagining it. His imagination had been very active lately after all. He approached slowly, not particularly caring if the man backed away. “Do that again.”
He frowned and Harry fought even harder to believe he hadn’t finally gone mad.
“Do what again?”
The voice was deep, the voice of a man. That man was not him.
“Merlin’s balls.” He put a hand to his forehead. He felt faint. “I didn’t imagine it.” He looked across the heath to see the men were very far away now, he couldn’t even hear the sounds of hooves on the ground. “Why... why didn’t you-”
“Sire!” Harry turned swiftly to a group of horsemen he did recognise. They rode up to him and stopped. All of them dismounted, bowing their heads as they approached. McCormack led the group. “We saw you running, Your Highness.” His eyes cut to the grey-eyed dancer. “We thought you might need some assistance.”
Harry sighed. This was the last thing he needed but he honestly didn’t feel like fighting with the blond all the way back to the castle so perhaps this was best. Wearily he turned toward the man who’d put him through all this trouble. “I don’t know where you think you were going but there isn’t anywhere around for miles. If you need to go somewhere, I can arrange for someone to take you but until then, would you just come back?” he asked.
The man turned his head to the direction he’d been running to. It was true. There was nowhere around for miles. He’d die of starvation before he got anywhere anyway. He turned back to the king who was standing waiting for an answer. He eventually nodded and the king looked grateful. He turned to his men.
“There are a group of Hufflepuff’s men here, they went north to set up a camp. I wish to know what they are doing on my land.” McCormack nodded at the king’s implicit orders.
“Thomas, give His Highness your horse and scout north through the forest. Get me coordinates.” Dean Thomas nodded at his orders and brought forth his black steed before disappearing through the heath toward the forest. The man was a great scout and often camped in the forest with his family.
Harry took the reins and climbed up easily. He angled and held out a hand. With all the glares from his men, he did not have to wait long for the blond to take it and climb up behind him. The ride back was silent through the forest and back onto the green fields of the castle grounds. They edge right toward the stables and slowed upon seeing the outline of Seamus as he was taking the damaged thestral out for a walk.
“One more time, Seamus?” he asked as he dismounted and held the horse steady for his backseat rider to follow him down.
“Yeah, this lad is itching for flight, I can feel it.” He looked oddly at the blond man who’d ridden with the king, recognising him from two weeks ago when a chest had near flattened the Sovereign beside him. He was watching the thestral curiously and then the wing that seemed to be healing as it flexed it often. He bit his lip sadly and Seamus frowned. “Don’t feel bad for him. He’ll fly again for sure.”
The blond’s eyes snapped to him and he nodded in thanks for the kind words. Seamus didn’t quite understand but shrugged it off. Understanding dancers was not his job.
“Where was he going?” Ronald asked Harry as he sat down. He’d been called out of James’ lessons and asked Dumbledore to take over so he could come straight to Harry’s quarters. “There’s nothing really out there besides open fields, forests and small villages. I doubt he knows anyone here.”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Ronald was frowning. “And you say he spoke?”
This time, Harry nodded. “Yes, though he hasn’t since.”
There was a pensive silence. “Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it? I mean-”
“I know what you mean, Ronald,” Harry said knowingly but frustrated. “I didn’t imagine it.” He wasn’t sure if he was convincing Ronald or himself there. He’d heard him twice, that couldn’t be his imagination. “Can’t you sense anything? He watched as Ronald’s eyes turned pale blue, narrowing slightly and Harry knew he was searching for the blond.
He sighed through is nose and shook his head. “I get very weak signals from him. It’s very strange. I have never come across someone like him before.”
“From the signals you do get, is he alright?”
Ronald nodded. “I feel him but it’s the same as always, there is something holding him back and I can only get a shallow look at him. I only feel sadness, and... want.”
Eyebrows rose quickly. “Want?”
Ronald’s eyes returned to their usual dark blue hue. “Not your kind of want, Your Highness.” He rolled his eyes then. “It’s like longing but...” He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Do you think...” The king’s tapering voice caught his attention. “Do you think he misses Zacharias?”
Ronald snorted. “No.” He thought for a second. “No it’s more for... a relative.”
“A relative? You think he has one he was going back to?”
“Maybe but...”
Harry waited. “But what?”
Ronald looked up at him from his position on the couch. “Wouldn’t he have been running in the wrong direction for that?”
Harry thought back. It was true, the Hufflepuff lands were to the west. He was running to the east. Harry straightened. “Hufflepuff’s men were coming from the east. Why?”
Ronald shrugged. “It may be strategy, strike from the area less likely to be suspected. We would not be watching the east as much as we would the west because the only lands in the eastern areas are Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
Harry frowned giving up the mystery of his dancer for now. “I don’t understand why Zacharias would do this. It’s all so contradictory. He starts a war, allegedly has Slytherin’s Prince disappear, asks for peace but then attacks my General just before he arrives. He claims he knows nothing of it but then he sends men to set up camp near my castle without my knowledge. He makes no sense. I can’t help but feel there is something I’m missing. Either he is the most treacherous man I know or I am missing something big. Maybe I should take a trip. If it’s one person who would know about this, it’s Zacharias.”
“No.” Both men turned to the voice that had entered the room. Harry stared and Ronald stood up frowning. He hadn’t even felt him arrive. There was more than one thing missing here. The blond was wearing the same blue tunic and white undershirt from before. Parts of it were smudged with dirt or grass stains from their wrestling in the heath.
Ronald watched the two men wrestling on the floor before they paused and shared a very heated kiss and rolled his eyes at the scene. Just as clothes were being ripped off, he cleared his throat loudly and glared at the king who’d jumped at the sound. Harry fought his blush and focused on the man who was watching the two of them gravely, looking as if he was sacrificing the world to be there. “It’s not him. It’s her.”
“Her? Her who?”
“It’s not the king. It’s the queen. Queen Cho is the one ordering the attacks.”
Harry narrowed his eyes in thought. “I don’t understand.”
“The men you saw today, in the heath, you didn’t recognise them.” Harry wondered how he knew this. “I did. They are not Hufflepuff’s men. All six of them are Ravenclaws.” He paused.
“How do you know this?”
He smiled a little. “When you don’t speak, it’s amazing how many people forget you are in the room.” He sighed. “She tires of him, rants on and on about how she has to be rid of him somehow.” He looked up at them both. “He isn’t a bad man. He is arrogant and conceited, definitely annoying but he isn’t evil.”
Harry and Ronald looked to each other. “Why have you kept silent for so long?” Ronald asked.
A part of the man tensed up and a complicated set of emotions stirred together on the surface but he couldn’t figure them out. “She has spies everywhere. She would not have allowed me to be there if she knew I could speak, not with everything she has said in my presence. I am a servant there and I do not matter but with everything the servants know, if anything confidential is said and just in front of me, they do not bother to censor themselves, especially since they do not believe I can read or write.”
Both Harry and Ronald’s eyebrows shot up to their hairlines. This may very well be the informant they needed. “What have you heard?”
“She wants the Prince of Slytherin.” Harry’s face turned grave. This was an ongoing investigation that took them in circles more than once a month. “It was her who sent out men to get to him. She knew he was the ambassador sent here. She has spies everywhere,” he repeated. “She hopes to get the key.”
Harry frowned. “What key?”
The blond looked up at him realising he did not know what he meant. He’d hoped he would. “She reads a lot, spends most of her time in the library. She always frequents history books, with stories about lands that are not her own.” He looked up at them both. “But she does not understand the mess she is making, the mess she has already made.”
“Do you understand it?” Ronald said feeling a slight wave of foreboding radiating from the man that could only come with knowing the outcome of an event.
The blond man nodded. “It was a crisis that happened in Slytherin centuries ago within the walls. It was kept a secret, silent, part of their history. King Simon Malfoy, one of the Royal Family, faced a war like this one. The power that exists in Slytherin is great and it is understood that it must not be used but he did use it in order to fight away people who believed Slytherin should not be near it. And through his constant use, he was corrupted. Eventually he was stopped, or at least he stopped himself after he killed his own son. He made sure that the power was unreachable to all but one, killing himself in the process. Since then it has been protected and unused. That is how it should be. But others don’t understand, they believe Slytherins siphon from it but that power is so immense, no man can handle it without going mad. It is imperative that you stop her.”
Harry stepped forward watching him suspiciously. “How do you know all this?”
He looked sad. “I used to live there. My family are still there.”
He ran east because he was running home. That made so much more sense. “You were going home.” The man nodded. “You do know how far away it is? You may have died before you reached halfway.” His head looked behind the blond to the door as a knock sounded and opened slowly. He waited and saw Neville, one of his guardsmen, lean around the door.
“Your Highness, your other liaison just arrived in the castle.” Harry smiled, he hadn’t seen Blaise in a long while. He nodded.
“Send him up.” Neville nodded in return and shut the door.
Harry went to sit on one of his couches before the fireplace. It wasn’t lit because of the warmth from outdoors. The windows were open to let the warmth in. No sense in wasting firewood. He sighed. “Zacharias said she was angry with him because he did not get me to sign the treaty. He said she’s been angry at him a lot lately. I had feared signing the treaty for the right reasons then. I just targeted my suspicions on the wrong person.” He looked up at the blond. “And what is this key now?”
The blond man came to sit next to him, frowning when Ronald, the king’s advisor coughed harshly making the king jump and blush. He moved away a little. “It is a gateway of sorts,” he began uncertain of the language between the two. “When King Simon Malfoy locked away the power, he used an ordinary key to stand as the gateway to it instead of himself. When he subsequently stabbed himself with it afterward, it made damn sure no one else would be able to use it unless they had his blood running through their veins. That person is the Keyholder.
“The two together open a magic so immense, if it were in the wrong hands...” He shook his head not wanting to comprehend the kind of damage it could do. “All that would be needed was someone of Royal blood from Slytherin.” He sat forward staring into the empty fireplace. “But there are rules. The key should only be used in dire situations. You cannot use it every time someone decides they don’t like you. Abusing the use of the key when there are other options are unforgiveable.”
Both Harry and Ronald frowned. “What are you talking about?” Harry asked. He was reciting it as if he’d had to learn the rules himself.
All the blond did was turn to him staring straight at him with those grey eyes that had never failed to capture Harry’s attention. “It is gold, doesn’t melt with heat, and nor does it look special.” The man paused, obviously going through an internal battle on whether or not he should continue. Eventually, he did. “When you received it, it should have been on the neck of Blaise Zabini.”
Harry sat back. There was no way this man could have known about Blaise. Ronald too had uncrossed his arms and was staring at them all in shock. “How do you know this?”
The man shut his eyes, took a deep breath and said. “Because... I put it there.”
The door slammed shut behind them. “Fucking Merlin!” Harry turned around, along with Ronald but the last man on the couch stared straight ahead into the face of a man he had not seen in just over five years.
“It’s given to every heir,” he continued quietly. “Before I was taken, I gave the key to Blaise.” He shook his head. “He didn’t know what it was.”
“Prince Draco...” Blaise moved slowly, knowing what he was seeing but unsure of what was going on. He watched him stand up and was just a metre away when he rushed forward to hug someone he’d missed terribly. “I knew it, you couldn’t be dead. I knew it, Draco, I knew it.”
The newly discovered prince shut his eyes hearing his name for the first time in a long time.
“You... you’re – you’re him? You’re the Prince? You didn’t tell us, why didn’t you tell us?”
Draco spoke around Blaise’s shoulder. “When I got here, you were entering into a contract of peace with the same domain that took me and threatened to destroy my homeland. Forgive me for being cautious. I was then placed into a wooden box for four days, found out my mother is ill and may be dying... I had to be sure. I’m sure you can understand.”
Ronald staggered under the feeling of relief shining in Blaise. “Why didn’t your parents use the Key for themselves back then? Surely this counts as a dire emergency?”
Draco shook his head and made Blaise let him go. “You don’t get it, back then they weren’t giving you the Key, they were giving you me. I am the Keyholder. It needs me to function. The threat was not so big back then and the options did not include using our power. When the carriage fell, I knew your men wouldn’t get to us on time. If they took me and saw the Key they would know who I was. They’d use me to destroy my own home, my people. I would rather have died. If not by their hand, by my own.”
Ronald put up his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, let’s not go that far. Blaise.” When Blaise didn’t look at him, he called him again. “Blaise!” Blaise jumped. “Do you still have the key he gave you?”
“Key?” Blaise asked. He’d not been there for the beginning of the conversation. “You mean the old gold one you gave me before you pushed me out of the carriage?” He narrowed his eyes. “We still have to talk about that by the way.” He waved a stern finger at him.
“Yes that one,” Ronald said, not letting him get distracted. “Do you still have it?”
Blaise nodded. “I do.” He began unbuttoning his shirt. “I’ve worn it every day. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I wasn’t wearing it when I left the Slytherin province. If you were coming back, I knew you’d want it since you had to have given it to me before you pushed me out.” He held it up and took off the necklace.
Ronald felt the pulsations of the key as it got closer to the Prince of Slytherin. When the blond took the chain and passed the long loop of it over his head, the second it rested around his neck an onslaught of emotion flooded him so fast and hard it was difficult to remain standing. It was as if he’d been staring at the man for so long through dirty glass and now, suddenly, the glass had been broken and he could see everything clearly.
Only years of practice allowed him to stay on his feet. He was flooded with anger, resentment, relief, longing and worry. It was the last that made him stare and focus. It was familiar and the foundation for what he’d been using to find the Prince of Slytherin in the first place, since the one emotion had been so strong before it had suddenly died. He now understood what he meant when he said both he and the key were connected. Without each other, they were not complete. It was true then.
Harry stood from his place on the couch. “We need to get Seamus here. I have a letter I must send to Zacharias immediately.”
***
Dearest Harry,
It seems all I do is thank you these days. However, I will say it properly. Thank you. You have saved not only myself but my Kingdom too. As we speak, my wife is being arrested with the charge of treason, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. Please send my regards to your Potions Master for the phial of truth serum, it worked remarkably well. Apparently, she was planning to frame me and then have me killed once the treaty was signed so she could take over as Queen. Is that not the sweetest thing? Tell him to prepare for orders to be shipped here, will you?
Her family have denied all involvement. They have subsequently ordered all of their men out of my Kingdom. I helped in that regard too. They are all exiled. If they set foot here again they will be tried for illegal entry and sentenced to time in jail.
Though I shall be sending my own token of apology to the King and Queen of Slytherin, please send my humble regret to them that I did not see the Chang’s treachery for what it was sooner. I am sure it would have saved a lot of heartbreak and loss. Give them my regards and hopes that they will one day find their son. I regret to say that, though I tried my hardest, I could not get his location out of her. If you ever need my help in that regard, do not hesitate to call on me.
Yours
Zacharias Smith
Newly single Hufflepuff Sovereign
Harry smiled as Zacharias’ humour. He’d not told the man he’d found the Prince of Slytherin, nor that the man had posed as Zacharias’ favourite dancer for so long. He was sure neither domain would hear the end of it. He hoped Zacharias was taking it well. Despite all the jokes he made, he was sure the man was hurt. He folded the letter just as there was a knock on the door. He turned and called for the person to enter.
Blaise poked his head around and Harry smiled at him. “You haven’t seen Ronald anywhere have you?”
Harry laughed. Since they’d escorted the Prince back to Slytherin, they’d practically been held hostage by the King and Queen. Both were overjoyed to have their son back and wanted to give their thanks as much as possible, even if the queen was still bed ridden. She had apparently caught a severe cold but was sentenced to weeks of fluids and rest. She was not taking it well. Unfortunately that meant Harry was spending a lot of his time with the royal family and Ronald was left by himself.
Of course, Blaise was taking ample advantage of this fact.
He knew exactly where Ronald was though. “I am afraid I have not seen him for the day.” Blaise looked downtrodden at the news. “I was going for a walk, though. Would you like to join me?” He’d been placed in a room that overlooked an apple orchard and he was dying to take a stroll through it.
Blaise obviously did not want to. “Well...”
Harry rolled his eyes. The two of them had been circling each other for years now. “I believe he is stalking the kitchens. He mentioned yesterday he had to find out how that apple tart was made.”
Blaise’s eyes lit up and then Harry didn’t see him for dust. He shook his head and left the room tracing his steps to the ballroom that led out to the orchard. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. It the middle of summer. The apples were ripening on the trees and some of them had already fallen. He was following the path through it, sure that the path had been made by the servants that came there to pick them for those treats they made in the kitchens. Harry hoped Ronald got a chance to get the recipe before Blaise found him. He knew if Molly got her hands on it, it would be phenomenal.
He turned to the castle, it was tall and a brilliant white colour. Towers with high spires stretched upward. Harry wasn’t even sure he wanted to know how it was built. From where he stood on a medium sized hill, he could see behind the castle and just to the left, the outskirts of the town that stretched out to the west of the castle. He’d enjoyed walking through it, even though he’d done it on a horse. It was very different here. The crowds were different, the people looked so... foreign. They were very similar to the Ravenclaw people in looks. He supposed this was because the two lands were so close together. They had probably been one centuries before and split through some rift.
Harry shook his head and looked around, making sure no one saw him before he stole a green apple of the tree he was standing under. It was shining at him, he had no choice. He certainly let his imagination drift when he was alone. Ronald had told him about it. He’d spent most of the journey across demanding they let him ride in a different carriage. Between Blaise coming onto him and seeing Harry’s daydreams about sex with the Prince opposite him in various positions, he was being driven mad.
“I saw that.”
Harry jumped and spun around, hiding the apple behind his back. “Oh – um, hello. Saw what?”
Draco Malfoy, dressed as a Prince, took looking gorgeous to a whole different level. Harry had seen him wearing servant’s clothes for so long, he wasn’t sure how to handle himself when he saw him emerge out of his bedroom in the Malfoy’s castle wearing his own clothes that, he’d taken great joy in discovering, still fit him. Two minutes after seeing him, he’d received a hard jab from Ronald’s elbow and then asked him if he was drooling. Ronald only snorted and excused himself from the room. Harry vowed to make him pay. He felt glad now that he sent Blaise after him.
Draco cocked an eyebrow at the Gryffindor King. His hands were behind his back and he copied the movement. He waited. “Hiding something?”
“No,” Harry said quickly. A little too quickly. He winced.
Draco seemed amused. His mouth opened and the tip of his tongue moved to his right canine, playfully poking at it. When Harry still did not own up he shook his head. “You do not need permission to take an apple from the tree, Your Highness.”
Harry looked down. “Er.”
Draco laughed and then walked up to him. He sat down and gestured for the King to join him. “You’ve reunited me with my family. I thank you,” he said.
Harry slowly took the apple out from hiding and dutifully ignored the amused chuckle he could hear. “You would have made it here on your own anyway.”
“Maybe, but I will still thank you.” He pondered for second on the King, staring at the apple as if it held the secrets of the world. “I must ask you something. King Zacharias gave me to you as a gift, yes?” Harry blushed and Draco smiled at him. When Harry nodded, he continued. “Why?”
If anything, the blush grew stronger. “I... don’t know.”
Grey eyes narrowed playfully as if he could tell he was lying. He turned to the King and sat cross legged. “When I danced for you, that first night, you seemed entranced. The following morning, you could not keep your eyes off me.” He leaned his head on his hand, resting the appendage on his knee. “That day in the library, you almost kissed me.”
Harry was running his fingers along the width of the apple, trying and failing to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. “What are you trying to say?” He finally looked up at the blond to see those eyes watching him closely, working him out.
Draco smiled. “That you like my dancing. And you want to kiss me.”
Harry squashed the feeling of dread and hope that was blossoming in my chest. “Oh. Well...”
Draco smirked. “But according to your empath advisor. You like me.” When Harry stared in shock, obviously not expecting Draco to know that piece of information. Draco smiled at him again. “Very much.”
“I – well... what is it you want me to say?”
Draco looked away making it seem as though whatever he’d been searching for was not there. “Nothing.” He shrugged. “I’d just hoped it was reciprocal.” He stood up and began walking away. Harry felt a horror creep over him that clenched in his stomach and made him sweat.
Reciprocal, as in, returned? he thought to himself.
The apple thudded as it fell to the ground. The material of Draco’s clothes was soft on his hands when he turned the blond around. He chose not to think about the fact that Draco was smiling knowingly when he kissed him, he just made sure that he wasn’t able to anymore by taking as much breath away from him as possible.
He’d kissed him in his dreams and daylight fantasies before but this was so much better. This felt less like a memory and more like life itself. When he finally pulled away, he hoped that this wasn’t a dream too. He blinked once, twice. Draco was still there and smiling at him. He smiled back, relief flooding him. “It is.”
Draco stared at him with an identical expression to the one he’d seen in the library weeks ago. “Oh.” Draco said as his arms circled him easily. “Well, that is very good news.” He pulled the Gryffindor closer his mouth kissing up his jaw to his earlobe. “Then first thing I suggest is you share some of those dreams you’ve been keeping to yourself. It’s entirely unfair that you’re the only one to enjoy them.”
Harry was all too happy to share them and briefly wondered, as he was led back toward the castle, “Do you still have your gold outfit?”
Fin.
1 Quid turpius est, quam menti’ri? - What is more indecent than to tell lies?
Author:
olimakiellaPrompt: #057 by
s0ulrunnerPairing(s):H/D, Slight Ronald/Blaise
Summary: The land of Slytherin has always been highly sought for its riches. When old fashioned murder does not work, its neighbouring lands will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.
Rating: Very light R
Previous part
It was as if he had been hit by a boulder as the ground below him swallowed him whole. The grey-eyed man wasn’t saying anything now and Harry had to fight to remember if he’d actually heard him speak or if he was imagining it. His imagination had been very active lately after all. He approached slowly, not particularly caring if the man backed away. “Do that again.”
He frowned and Harry fought even harder to believe he hadn’t finally gone mad.
“Do what again?”
The voice was deep, the voice of a man. That man was not him.
“Merlin’s balls.” He put a hand to his forehead. He felt faint. “I didn’t imagine it.” He looked across the heath to see the men were very far away now, he couldn’t even hear the sounds of hooves on the ground. “Why... why didn’t you-”
“Sire!” Harry turned swiftly to a group of horsemen he did recognise. They rode up to him and stopped. All of them dismounted, bowing their heads as they approached. McCormack led the group. “We saw you running, Your Highness.” His eyes cut to the grey-eyed dancer. “We thought you might need some assistance.”
Harry sighed. This was the last thing he needed but he honestly didn’t feel like fighting with the blond all the way back to the castle so perhaps this was best. Wearily he turned toward the man who’d put him through all this trouble. “I don’t know where you think you were going but there isn’t anywhere around for miles. If you need to go somewhere, I can arrange for someone to take you but until then, would you just come back?” he asked.
The man turned his head to the direction he’d been running to. It was true. There was nowhere around for miles. He’d die of starvation before he got anywhere anyway. He turned back to the king who was standing waiting for an answer. He eventually nodded and the king looked grateful. He turned to his men.
“There are a group of Hufflepuff’s men here, they went north to set up a camp. I wish to know what they are doing on my land.” McCormack nodded at the king’s implicit orders.
“Thomas, give His Highness your horse and scout north through the forest. Get me coordinates.” Dean Thomas nodded at his orders and brought forth his black steed before disappearing through the heath toward the forest. The man was a great scout and often camped in the forest with his family.
Harry took the reins and climbed up easily. He angled and held out a hand. With all the glares from his men, he did not have to wait long for the blond to take it and climb up behind him. The ride back was silent through the forest and back onto the green fields of the castle grounds. They edge right toward the stables and slowed upon seeing the outline of Seamus as he was taking the damaged thestral out for a walk.
“One more time, Seamus?” he asked as he dismounted and held the horse steady for his backseat rider to follow him down.
“Yeah, this lad is itching for flight, I can feel it.” He looked oddly at the blond man who’d ridden with the king, recognising him from two weeks ago when a chest had near flattened the Sovereign beside him. He was watching the thestral curiously and then the wing that seemed to be healing as it flexed it often. He bit his lip sadly and Seamus frowned. “Don’t feel bad for him. He’ll fly again for sure.”
The blond’s eyes snapped to him and he nodded in thanks for the kind words. Seamus didn’t quite understand but shrugged it off. Understanding dancers was not his job.
“Where was he going?” Ronald asked Harry as he sat down. He’d been called out of James’ lessons and asked Dumbledore to take over so he could come straight to Harry’s quarters. “There’s nothing really out there besides open fields, forests and small villages. I doubt he knows anyone here.”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Ronald was frowning. “And you say he spoke?”
This time, Harry nodded. “Yes, though he hasn’t since.”
There was a pensive silence. “Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it? I mean-”
“I know what you mean, Ronald,” Harry said knowingly but frustrated. “I didn’t imagine it.” He wasn’t sure if he was convincing Ronald or himself there. He’d heard him twice, that couldn’t be his imagination. “Can’t you sense anything? He watched as Ronald’s eyes turned pale blue, narrowing slightly and Harry knew he was searching for the blond.
He sighed through is nose and shook his head. “I get very weak signals from him. It’s very strange. I have never come across someone like him before.”
“From the signals you do get, is he alright?”
Ronald nodded. “I feel him but it’s the same as always, there is something holding him back and I can only get a shallow look at him. I only feel sadness, and... want.”
Eyebrows rose quickly. “Want?”
Ronald’s eyes returned to their usual dark blue hue. “Not your kind of want, Your Highness.” He rolled his eyes then. “It’s like longing but...” He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Do you think...” The king’s tapering voice caught his attention. “Do you think he misses Zacharias?”
Ronald snorted. “No.” He thought for a second. “No it’s more for... a relative.”
“A relative? You think he has one he was going back to?”
“Maybe but...”
Harry waited. “But what?”
Ronald looked up at him from his position on the couch. “Wouldn’t he have been running in the wrong direction for that?”
Harry thought back. It was true, the Hufflepuff lands were to the west. He was running to the east. Harry straightened. “Hufflepuff’s men were coming from the east. Why?”
Ronald shrugged. “It may be strategy, strike from the area less likely to be suspected. We would not be watching the east as much as we would the west because the only lands in the eastern areas are Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
Harry frowned giving up the mystery of his dancer for now. “I don’t understand why Zacharias would do this. It’s all so contradictory. He starts a war, allegedly has Slytherin’s Prince disappear, asks for peace but then attacks my General just before he arrives. He claims he knows nothing of it but then he sends men to set up camp near my castle without my knowledge. He makes no sense. I can’t help but feel there is something I’m missing. Either he is the most treacherous man I know or I am missing something big. Maybe I should take a trip. If it’s one person who would know about this, it’s Zacharias.”
“No.” Both men turned to the voice that had entered the room. Harry stared and Ronald stood up frowning. He hadn’t even felt him arrive. There was more than one thing missing here. The blond was wearing the same blue tunic and white undershirt from before. Parts of it were smudged with dirt or grass stains from their wrestling in the heath.
Ronald watched the two men wrestling on the floor before they paused and shared a very heated kiss and rolled his eyes at the scene. Just as clothes were being ripped off, he cleared his throat loudly and glared at the king who’d jumped at the sound. Harry fought his blush and focused on the man who was watching the two of them gravely, looking as if he was sacrificing the world to be there. “It’s not him. It’s her.”
“Her? Her who?”
“It’s not the king. It’s the queen. Queen Cho is the one ordering the attacks.”
Harry narrowed his eyes in thought. “I don’t understand.”
“The men you saw today, in the heath, you didn’t recognise them.” Harry wondered how he knew this. “I did. They are not Hufflepuff’s men. All six of them are Ravenclaws.” He paused.
“How do you know this?”
He smiled a little. “When you don’t speak, it’s amazing how many people forget you are in the room.” He sighed. “She tires of him, rants on and on about how she has to be rid of him somehow.” He looked up at them both. “He isn’t a bad man. He is arrogant and conceited, definitely annoying but he isn’t evil.”
Harry and Ronald looked to each other. “Why have you kept silent for so long?” Ronald asked.
A part of the man tensed up and a complicated set of emotions stirred together on the surface but he couldn’t figure them out. “She has spies everywhere. She would not have allowed me to be there if she knew I could speak, not with everything she has said in my presence. I am a servant there and I do not matter but with everything the servants know, if anything confidential is said and just in front of me, they do not bother to censor themselves, especially since they do not believe I can read or write.”
Both Harry and Ronald’s eyebrows shot up to their hairlines. This may very well be the informant they needed. “What have you heard?”
“She wants the Prince of Slytherin.” Harry’s face turned grave. This was an ongoing investigation that took them in circles more than once a month. “It was her who sent out men to get to him. She knew he was the ambassador sent here. She has spies everywhere,” he repeated. “She hopes to get the key.”
Harry frowned. “What key?”
The blond looked up at him realising he did not know what he meant. He’d hoped he would. “She reads a lot, spends most of her time in the library. She always frequents history books, with stories about lands that are not her own.” He looked up at them both. “But she does not understand the mess she is making, the mess she has already made.”
“Do you understand it?” Ronald said feeling a slight wave of foreboding radiating from the man that could only come with knowing the outcome of an event.
The blond man nodded. “It was a crisis that happened in Slytherin centuries ago within the walls. It was kept a secret, silent, part of their history. King Simon Malfoy, one of the Royal Family, faced a war like this one. The power that exists in Slytherin is great and it is understood that it must not be used but he did use it in order to fight away people who believed Slytherin should not be near it. And through his constant use, he was corrupted. Eventually he was stopped, or at least he stopped himself after he killed his own son. He made sure that the power was unreachable to all but one, killing himself in the process. Since then it has been protected and unused. That is how it should be. But others don’t understand, they believe Slytherins siphon from it but that power is so immense, no man can handle it without going mad. It is imperative that you stop her.”
Harry stepped forward watching him suspiciously. “How do you know all this?”
He looked sad. “I used to live there. My family are still there.”
He ran east because he was running home. That made so much more sense. “You were going home.” The man nodded. “You do know how far away it is? You may have died before you reached halfway.” His head looked behind the blond to the door as a knock sounded and opened slowly. He waited and saw Neville, one of his guardsmen, lean around the door.
“Your Highness, your other liaison just arrived in the castle.” Harry smiled, he hadn’t seen Blaise in a long while. He nodded.
“Send him up.” Neville nodded in return and shut the door.
Harry went to sit on one of his couches before the fireplace. It wasn’t lit because of the warmth from outdoors. The windows were open to let the warmth in. No sense in wasting firewood. He sighed. “Zacharias said she was angry with him because he did not get me to sign the treaty. He said she’s been angry at him a lot lately. I had feared signing the treaty for the right reasons then. I just targeted my suspicions on the wrong person.” He looked up at the blond. “And what is this key now?”
The blond man came to sit next to him, frowning when Ronald, the king’s advisor coughed harshly making the king jump and blush. He moved away a little. “It is a gateway of sorts,” he began uncertain of the language between the two. “When King Simon Malfoy locked away the power, he used an ordinary key to stand as the gateway to it instead of himself. When he subsequently stabbed himself with it afterward, it made damn sure no one else would be able to use it unless they had his blood running through their veins. That person is the Keyholder.
“The two together open a magic so immense, if it were in the wrong hands...” He shook his head not wanting to comprehend the kind of damage it could do. “All that would be needed was someone of Royal blood from Slytherin.” He sat forward staring into the empty fireplace. “But there are rules. The key should only be used in dire situations. You cannot use it every time someone decides they don’t like you. Abusing the use of the key when there are other options are unforgiveable.”
Both Harry and Ronald frowned. “What are you talking about?” Harry asked. He was reciting it as if he’d had to learn the rules himself.
All the blond did was turn to him staring straight at him with those grey eyes that had never failed to capture Harry’s attention. “It is gold, doesn’t melt with heat, and nor does it look special.” The man paused, obviously going through an internal battle on whether or not he should continue. Eventually, he did. “When you received it, it should have been on the neck of Blaise Zabini.”
Harry sat back. There was no way this man could have known about Blaise. Ronald too had uncrossed his arms and was staring at them all in shock. “How do you know this?”
The man shut his eyes, took a deep breath and said. “Because... I put it there.”
The door slammed shut behind them. “Fucking Merlin!” Harry turned around, along with Ronald but the last man on the couch stared straight ahead into the face of a man he had not seen in just over five years.
“It’s given to every heir,” he continued quietly. “Before I was taken, I gave the key to Blaise.” He shook his head. “He didn’t know what it was.”
“Prince Draco...” Blaise moved slowly, knowing what he was seeing but unsure of what was going on. He watched him stand up and was just a metre away when he rushed forward to hug someone he’d missed terribly. “I knew it, you couldn’t be dead. I knew it, Draco, I knew it.”
The newly discovered prince shut his eyes hearing his name for the first time in a long time.
“You... you’re – you’re him? You’re the Prince? You didn’t tell us, why didn’t you tell us?”
Draco spoke around Blaise’s shoulder. “When I got here, you were entering into a contract of peace with the same domain that took me and threatened to destroy my homeland. Forgive me for being cautious. I was then placed into a wooden box for four days, found out my mother is ill and may be dying... I had to be sure. I’m sure you can understand.”
Ronald staggered under the feeling of relief shining in Blaise. “Why didn’t your parents use the Key for themselves back then? Surely this counts as a dire emergency?”
Draco shook his head and made Blaise let him go. “You don’t get it, back then they weren’t giving you the Key, they were giving you me. I am the Keyholder. It needs me to function. The threat was not so big back then and the options did not include using our power. When the carriage fell, I knew your men wouldn’t get to us on time. If they took me and saw the Key they would know who I was. They’d use me to destroy my own home, my people. I would rather have died. If not by their hand, by my own.”
Ronald put up his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, let’s not go that far. Blaise.” When Blaise didn’t look at him, he called him again. “Blaise!” Blaise jumped. “Do you still have the key he gave you?”
“Key?” Blaise asked. He’d not been there for the beginning of the conversation. “You mean the old gold one you gave me before you pushed me out of the carriage?” He narrowed his eyes. “We still have to talk about that by the way.” He waved a stern finger at him.
“Yes that one,” Ronald said, not letting him get distracted. “Do you still have it?”
Blaise nodded. “I do.” He began unbuttoning his shirt. “I’ve worn it every day. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I wasn’t wearing it when I left the Slytherin province. If you were coming back, I knew you’d want it since you had to have given it to me before you pushed me out.” He held it up and took off the necklace.
Ronald felt the pulsations of the key as it got closer to the Prince of Slytherin. When the blond took the chain and passed the long loop of it over his head, the second it rested around his neck an onslaught of emotion flooded him so fast and hard it was difficult to remain standing. It was as if he’d been staring at the man for so long through dirty glass and now, suddenly, the glass had been broken and he could see everything clearly.
Only years of practice allowed him to stay on his feet. He was flooded with anger, resentment, relief, longing and worry. It was the last that made him stare and focus. It was familiar and the foundation for what he’d been using to find the Prince of Slytherin in the first place, since the one emotion had been so strong before it had suddenly died. He now understood what he meant when he said both he and the key were connected. Without each other, they were not complete. It was true then.
Harry stood from his place on the couch. “We need to get Seamus here. I have a letter I must send to Zacharias immediately.”
Dearest Harry,
It seems all I do is thank you these days. However, I will say it properly. Thank you. You have saved not only myself but my Kingdom too. As we speak, my wife is being arrested with the charge of treason, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. Please send my regards to your Potions Master for the phial of truth serum, it worked remarkably well. Apparently, she was planning to frame me and then have me killed once the treaty was signed so she could take over as Queen. Is that not the sweetest thing? Tell him to prepare for orders to be shipped here, will you?
Her family have denied all involvement. They have subsequently ordered all of their men out of my Kingdom. I helped in that regard too. They are all exiled. If they set foot here again they will be tried for illegal entry and sentenced to time in jail.
Though I shall be sending my own token of apology to the King and Queen of Slytherin, please send my humble regret to them that I did not see the Chang’s treachery for what it was sooner. I am sure it would have saved a lot of heartbreak and loss. Give them my regards and hopes that they will one day find their son. I regret to say that, though I tried my hardest, I could not get his location out of her. If you ever need my help in that regard, do not hesitate to call on me.
Yours
Zacharias Smith
Newly single Hufflepuff Sovereign
Harry smiled as Zacharias’ humour. He’d not told the man he’d found the Prince of Slytherin, nor that the man had posed as Zacharias’ favourite dancer for so long. He was sure neither domain would hear the end of it. He hoped Zacharias was taking it well. Despite all the jokes he made, he was sure the man was hurt. He folded the letter just as there was a knock on the door. He turned and called for the person to enter.
Blaise poked his head around and Harry smiled at him. “You haven’t seen Ronald anywhere have you?”
Harry laughed. Since they’d escorted the Prince back to Slytherin, they’d practically been held hostage by the King and Queen. Both were overjoyed to have their son back and wanted to give their thanks as much as possible, even if the queen was still bed ridden. She had apparently caught a severe cold but was sentenced to weeks of fluids and rest. She was not taking it well. Unfortunately that meant Harry was spending a lot of his time with the royal family and Ronald was left by himself.
Of course, Blaise was taking ample advantage of this fact.
He knew exactly where Ronald was though. “I am afraid I have not seen him for the day.” Blaise looked downtrodden at the news. “I was going for a walk, though. Would you like to join me?” He’d been placed in a room that overlooked an apple orchard and he was dying to take a stroll through it.
Blaise obviously did not want to. “Well...”
Harry rolled his eyes. The two of them had been circling each other for years now. “I believe he is stalking the kitchens. He mentioned yesterday he had to find out how that apple tart was made.”
Blaise’s eyes lit up and then Harry didn’t see him for dust. He shook his head and left the room tracing his steps to the ballroom that led out to the orchard. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. It the middle of summer. The apples were ripening on the trees and some of them had already fallen. He was following the path through it, sure that the path had been made by the servants that came there to pick them for those treats they made in the kitchens. Harry hoped Ronald got a chance to get the recipe before Blaise found him. He knew if Molly got her hands on it, it would be phenomenal.
He turned to the castle, it was tall and a brilliant white colour. Towers with high spires stretched upward. Harry wasn’t even sure he wanted to know how it was built. From where he stood on a medium sized hill, he could see behind the castle and just to the left, the outskirts of the town that stretched out to the west of the castle. He’d enjoyed walking through it, even though he’d done it on a horse. It was very different here. The crowds were different, the people looked so... foreign. They were very similar to the Ravenclaw people in looks. He supposed this was because the two lands were so close together. They had probably been one centuries before and split through some rift.
Harry shook his head and looked around, making sure no one saw him before he stole a green apple of the tree he was standing under. It was shining at him, he had no choice. He certainly let his imagination drift when he was alone. Ronald had told him about it. He’d spent most of the journey across demanding they let him ride in a different carriage. Between Blaise coming onto him and seeing Harry’s daydreams about sex with the Prince opposite him in various positions, he was being driven mad.
“I saw that.”
Harry jumped and spun around, hiding the apple behind his back. “Oh – um, hello. Saw what?”
Draco Malfoy, dressed as a Prince, took looking gorgeous to a whole different level. Harry had seen him wearing servant’s clothes for so long, he wasn’t sure how to handle himself when he saw him emerge out of his bedroom in the Malfoy’s castle wearing his own clothes that, he’d taken great joy in discovering, still fit him. Two minutes after seeing him, he’d received a hard jab from Ronald’s elbow and then asked him if he was drooling. Ronald only snorted and excused himself from the room. Harry vowed to make him pay. He felt glad now that he sent Blaise after him.
Draco cocked an eyebrow at the Gryffindor King. His hands were behind his back and he copied the movement. He waited. “Hiding something?”
“No,” Harry said quickly. A little too quickly. He winced.
Draco seemed amused. His mouth opened and the tip of his tongue moved to his right canine, playfully poking at it. When Harry still did not own up he shook his head. “You do not need permission to take an apple from the tree, Your Highness.”
Harry looked down. “Er.”
Draco laughed and then walked up to him. He sat down and gestured for the King to join him. “You’ve reunited me with my family. I thank you,” he said.
Harry slowly took the apple out from hiding and dutifully ignored the amused chuckle he could hear. “You would have made it here on your own anyway.”
“Maybe, but I will still thank you.” He pondered for second on the King, staring at the apple as if it held the secrets of the world. “I must ask you something. King Zacharias gave me to you as a gift, yes?” Harry blushed and Draco smiled at him. When Harry nodded, he continued. “Why?”
If anything, the blush grew stronger. “I... don’t know.”
Grey eyes narrowed playfully as if he could tell he was lying. He turned to the King and sat cross legged. “When I danced for you, that first night, you seemed entranced. The following morning, you could not keep your eyes off me.” He leaned his head on his hand, resting the appendage on his knee. “That day in the library, you almost kissed me.”
Harry was running his fingers along the width of the apple, trying and failing to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. “What are you trying to say?” He finally looked up at the blond to see those eyes watching him closely, working him out.
Draco smiled. “That you like my dancing. And you want to kiss me.”
Harry squashed the feeling of dread and hope that was blossoming in my chest. “Oh. Well...”
Draco smirked. “But according to your empath advisor. You like me.” When Harry stared in shock, obviously not expecting Draco to know that piece of information. Draco smiled at him again. “Very much.”
“I – well... what is it you want me to say?”
Draco looked away making it seem as though whatever he’d been searching for was not there. “Nothing.” He shrugged. “I’d just hoped it was reciprocal.” He stood up and began walking away. Harry felt a horror creep over him that clenched in his stomach and made him sweat.
Reciprocal, as in, returned? he thought to himself.
The apple thudded as it fell to the ground. The material of Draco’s clothes was soft on his hands when he turned the blond around. He chose not to think about the fact that Draco was smiling knowingly when he kissed him, he just made sure that he wasn’t able to anymore by taking as much breath away from him as possible.
He’d kissed him in his dreams and daylight fantasies before but this was so much better. This felt less like a memory and more like life itself. When he finally pulled away, he hoped that this wasn’t a dream too. He blinked once, twice. Draco was still there and smiling at him. He smiled back, relief flooding him. “It is.”
Draco stared at him with an identical expression to the one he’d seen in the library weeks ago. “Oh.” Draco said as his arms circled him easily. “Well, that is very good news.” He pulled the Gryffindor closer his mouth kissing up his jaw to his earlobe. “Then first thing I suggest is you share some of those dreams you’ve been keeping to yourself. It’s entirely unfair that you’re the only one to enjoy them.”
Harry was all too happy to share them and briefly wondered, as he was led back toward the castle, “Do you still have your gold outfit?”
Fin.
1 Quid turpius est, quam menti’ri? - What is more indecent than to tell lies?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 04:42 pm (UTC)Also, great intrigue, it kept us on our feet through the whole story (which, btw, was surprisingly easy to read, despite its length, so congrats for that!)
And Harry's day dreams... Guh, that made us want more! My pervy mind is most displeased with this ending.
Although my rational one admits that the end is perfect as it is, and that if you had written a smutty ending, it might have looked like "okay, I put the smut because I know you guys want it, and I don't want you bothering me!", and it might not have fitted. So, I guess I understand you^^ (Also, it is possible that you are not able to write good smut, and if so, thank god for not lowering the quality of this story, because sometimes, people should stick to what they can do. Full stop.)
Bravo for this (again) and sorry for my rambling :p
no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 08:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 08:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 08:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 08:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-21 09:03 am (UTC)