Advent '10 - December 19th
December 19th - 6 days to go
Harry woke up feeling the most refreshed he'd been in a long time.
Maybe it was because the bed that he was lying on was the comfiest he'd ever come across. Then again, maybe it was because he was ensconced away on a private and unplottable island and wasn't, for the first time in his life, being hunted by something or someone.
Sure, he had had some reprieve before, like when he was at Hogwarts, but he had still be in a building where practically all the children pinned their attention on him. And then there were the bad guys who somehow always managed to get in and stalk him.
After that there had been Voldemort, his stupid nightmares and the seventh-year-that-wasn't and everything that came with it.
Then, when it had all finally ended and he thought he had been free, there were the reporters and the 'well-wishers'.
Even during the trip with the twins they had had to skip countries because of what was hunting them. But that was mainly their faults so he wasn't really putting the blame on anyone else for the most recent bad nights rest.
The drinking probably didn't help any.
But now…now he wasn't being chased by anything. There was just him, this bed and the warm breeze that was blowing in through the open window to his left.
Harry stretched with a smile, feeling the satin drag across his skin.
Then again, maybe he had had a good nights rest because his puffskeins hadn't hogged the bed and forced him to sleep in weird shapes to accommodate them.
He snorted and swung his feet of the side of the bed to the floor.
It was probably the last one.
But, now that he had all the time in the world, it was time to call Sirius to let him know he was okay.
Hopefully he wouldn't be too frantic because of the calls that Fred and George had been making.
He stepped over to his discarded clothes, dressed only his boxers, and rummaged in his pockets until he found the shrunken trunk.
With a quick flick of his wand it became large again and he flipped the lid open and searched for the mirror. He barely had it in his hand before it shimmered and Remus' face came into view.
Though Harry did drop it when Remus suddenly yelled his name. There was a mad scramble as Harry tried to catch it again before it hit the floor and shattered.
With his heart pounding he turned the mirror over until he could see Remus and Sirius fighting for space.
"Remus? Sirius?"
Remus shoved Sirius in the face and Harry watched as Sirius quickly fell off screen, accompanied by a loud clatter.
"Harry!"
"What happened to Sirius?"
Remus looked at him impatiently, "Harry, where the hell have you been? Where are you? Are you safe? Are there people following you?" They came out in a rush and Harry could barely make out what Remus had just asked.
"Um…" Harry tilted his head in confusion. "No? I mean, yes?" he paused, "What were the questions again?"
"Remus," Sirius' voice came over the mirror, "ask the more important questions first."
Remus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Are you safe?"
"Yes." Harry nodded.
"Are there people following you?"
"No." Harry shook his head.
"Where the hell have you been?"
Harry frowned, "All over? France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Ja-"
"I don't mean that." Remus said in frustration, waving off his list, "I meant why haven't you mirror called in so long? Do you know how worried we were?"
"I don't understand," Harry said slowly, "Fred and George were mirror calling you. They said they were."
"Well they weren't and I've been worried sick about you out there, with no word from you and the Auror's out looking for you with orders to bring you in to be Kissed!"
"I'm sorry Remus, but I really did think Fred and George were calling you."
"Fine, but when you get back you are not going to be let out of my sight for a long while."
Harry slumped and pouted.
"That isn't going to work on me, cub. The deal was that you could leave on your trip if you called everyday."
Harry mentally planned revenge on Fred and George whilst he nodded. Great. Over-protective werewolf syndrome. He was going to be locked in a tower until he was thirty.
"Where are you?" Remus asked, breaking him from his inner ranting.
"I…Neratiti?"
Remus frowned, "Where's that? I've never heard of it."
"It's…" Harry trailed off, he was a little unsure of that himself. But then again, he wasn't exactly sure how much he was allowed to say. Savitar seemed like a private person and Harry knew how much he hated people getting into his private life.
Instead he bluffed it. "It's an island somewhere in the Caribbean."
Well, Neratiti might be in that general area right now. It was hard to tell when the island shifted all the time.
Remus nodded, buying it. "Harry, cub." He seemed to be fortifying himself for something, "I have some bad news."
Harry grimaced, "If it's about the whole Dark Lord thing then I already know."
And, despite the situation, Harry still wanted to chuckle at the expression that Remus was sporting right now.
"How?" Remus asked faintly, "How did you…?"
"The American Ministry gets all the world newspapers to keep up to date with events. Fred and George just nicked a copy of the Daily Prophet."
"Are you aright?" Remus asked softly.
Harry scowled, "Hell no, I'm not alright. Bastards have me down as a Dark Lord! After everything that happened they think I'm worse than Voldemort!"
"Harry! Language!"
Harry shut his mouth with a click and looked off to the side, stewing in the anger that had raced through his system. It was a little surprising at just how much there was.
Guess he was more pissed off than he thought.
"So are you sure you're safe?"
Harry sighed, trust Remus to defuse him. "Yeah, the island I'm on? It's actually an unplottable moving island with more defence systems than I know how to break out of."
"You've built yourself a Fortress of Doom?" Sirius asked, his head popping up in the mirror.
Harry laughed, "Nah, it's not mine. It's Savy's." He flushed a little when he realised that he used his stupid nickname in front of his Godparents. Now they would know that he was closer to him than he probably should be.
After all, it had taken him almost a year to give Hermione her nickname. He could only have known Savitar for a couple of weeks at most.
By the look on Remus and Sirius' faces they realised this too. Remus was looking both protective and suspicious. Sirius just smirked.
"So…Savy?" Sirius asked.
"No one." Harry said quickly. A little too quickly if the widening smirk on Sirius' face seemed to judge anything.
Harry prayed for anything to distract from Sirius' next question.
"Harry, what are those marks on your neck?"
Then again, maybe Sirius' question would have been preferable.
He raised his hand to touch his throat and the bruises littering the surface "Oh, they're just-" he cut himself off with a nervous laugh. "I mean, what marks?"
Both Remus and Sirius stared at him.
"Did you honestly expect that to work?" Sirius asked after a moment of silence.
"I was hoping…"
"Harry," This time his name came out with a growl as Remus' eyes flashed amber, "what are those marks on your neck."
"Look a bit like bruises." Sirius chimed in, before smirking, "Or maybe even hickeys."
Harry gritted his teeth and glared at Sirius and his unhelpful comments.
"Harry?" Remus asked, "Are they bruises or hickeys?"
Harry opened his mouth to answer and then closed it. "Which one's worse?" He asked instead.
Remus growled and Harry hurriedly continued, "Because whichever one's worse then it's the other one."
"So they're hickeys then?" Sirius asked, disappearing off the edge of the mirror as he tried to edge away from the enraged werewolf he was standing next to.
"I…guess so…" Harry shrugged.
"Who!" Remus snarled, "Who marked my cub!"
"Savitar." The name came out of his mouth before he could do anything about it and Harry face palmed.
He was such an idiot.
Remus smiled, but not in a nice I'm-having-such-a-good-day way. More like a I'm-a-werewolf-who's-face-am-I-eating-first.
"Savitar? Savy? The man who has you on a unplottable island?"
"Yes?"
"I'm gonna kill him. Rip out his throat!"
"Hey! Hey!" Harry tried to defuse the situation, "He hasn't done anything to me! He didn't even want me to go into his sex dungeon!"
The world froze.
Or at least it seemed like it to Harry.
He was never, ever going to let himself try to calm down any situation in the future.
He felt the bloodlust spike in Remus and he was halfway around the world.
"He has a sex dungeon?" Remus asked calmly, his face blanked of all emotion. Honestly, it was a little creepy.
Harry pursed his lips, "It's really quite tasteful…for, you know, a sex dungeon…"
What was that thing he'd just told himself about calming down situations?
Remus' face was slowly turning red with rage and Harry could even see a vein in his temple start to throb.
Luckily he had Sirius to defuse the situation.
"Ah, the sex dungeon. Guess you've come into the Black inheritance after all! I was beginning to worry, but we all develop at different paces. There's no shame at all in being a late bloomer."
Harry could only watch and wince as Remus slowly turned to his friend. "The Black inheritance."
Sirius' eyes widened as he seemed to realise just how much danger he was in.
"So it's your genes that have Harry running off with strange men to satisfy their fetishes?"
Sirius opened his mouth but instead of saying anything just bolted.
"Get back here!" Remus shouted out after him and Harry had a quick view of the floor before the room seemed to spin and tilt before settling on a view of the ceiling.
He could hear loud crashing sounds and a high pitched scream that sounded like it came from Sirius.
"Um…Remus?" Harry called out, nervously tapping his finger on the side of the mirror.
There was no answer.
Harry shrugged helplessly to himself and ended the call, throwing the mirror into his trunk and pulling out some clean swimming trunks. It was really too hot to be wearing anything more.
He sighed as he closed the lid and stood up. He just hoped Remus had calmed down by the time he met Savitar.
Because, if he was honest with himself, Harry didn't know if Remus would actually loose that fight.
After a quick, cool shower, Harry pulled on his swimming trunks and went out to try and find Savitar.
He was running out of time to complete his Oath. The magic had increased since he had fallen asleep and was now wrapped completely around him, like steel bands crushing his chest, making it difficult to breath.
His magic was turning against him and he didn't really want to contemplate just how much worse it was going to get if he didn't do anything soon.
Unfortunately, Savitar seemed to have skipped the island leaving Harry to wander the halls and rooms all day. His magic building and turning on him, sparking painfully against his skin and irritating him.
By the time late afternoon rolled around Harry was a pissed off, nervous and frustrated wreak.
That was why, when Savitar finally appeared, smiling at him in welcome as he strode towards him, Harry picked up one of the heavy vases that was sitting on the pedestals that lined the walls and swung it straight at Savitar's head.
It shattered on impact and Harry, panting harshly, watched as Savitar swayed for a moment before his eyes rolled back up into his head and he fell backwards.
He had a feeling that the only reason that he had managed to do that was because he had caught Savitar by surprise.
His magic lessened it's hold a bit, as if it could tell that the Oath was in the middle of being completed, and Harry breathed a bit easier.
He was never, ever making another Oath. Ever.
He dropped to his knees and ran his hands and eyes over Savitar's wetsuit. How the hell was he supposed to take it off?
A sweep of his fingers around the collar had him groaning. The bloody zipper was on the back!
Harry was five six on a good day. Savitar looked to be around six eight and had maybe a hundred more pounds of pure muscle on him. How the hell was he supposed to do this? And he couldn't use magic to roll him over either.
Harry gritted his teeth. He'd come across harder situations.
He just hoped Savitar didn't wake up during the process. He didn't want to die.
He grabbed the shoulder and pushed up. It didn't work. Savitar was mainly dead weight.
Undeterred he moved to the other side and reached across, straining he managed to get the shoulder off the ground. Only now he was stuck like this with no way to reach around to unzipper him.
He let the shoulder fall back with a thump.
Maybe of he got the hips to shift too?
He reached back over and got the shoulder back up off the ground then, carefully and with a lot of grunting and straining, he managed to hook his leg around Savitar's hip and roll him over.
The good news was that it worked.
The bad news was that Harry was now underneath Savitar's unconscious body.
He rolled his eyes and groped Savitar's back blindly. Stupid zipper had to be…aha!
Grinning he pulled the zipper down as far as it could go, trying very hard to ignore the hot breaths of air on his neck.
Right, now to get it off.
Harry shoved at Savitar's shoulder, trying to re-roll him back onto his back. It was almost as hard as the first time but now Harry could lock his elbows into place and push against the marble floor.
Savitar seemed to let out a sigh as he flopped onto his back and Harry froze, unsure if he'd wake up.
He didn't.
Harry breathed out a silent sigh of relief and straddled his waist, tugging at the shoulders of the wetsuit, trying to pull it down his body.
"How tight does he want this?" Harry grumbled to himself, "Does he just magic it onto his body? There is no way that he could get this on the muggle way."
"What are you doing?"
Harry let out a yelp at the unexpected noise, face planting into Savitar's abs when his hand that he was using for support skidded out from underneath him.
He glanced up with wide eyes to see the guy from yesterday standing next to him, staring at him with both eyebrows raised.
"Um…" Harry stalled, "it's not what it looks like?"
One of the eyebrows lowered until he only had one raised. He looked about them at the shards of broken pottery.
"It looks like you knocked Savitar out and shattered one of his priceless vases."
Harry winced. "Do you think he'd be mad?"
The man snorted. "I think he'll probably kill you." His gaze trailed over Harry before flicking to Savitar's face, "Then again…"
Harry shifted. "Are you going to kill me…?"
"Ash."
"Huh?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"My name is Ash. And to answer your question, no I'm not."
"Oh." Harry nodded and went back to tugging the wetsuit down. He was mostly there and gave out a cry of triumph when it slid and bunched at his waist.
At least before he got a little distracted by the tattoos.
"So…what are you doing?" Ash asked, snapping Harry out of his daze and causing him to try and tug the wetsuit down further. "Because it looks a little suspect."
"I…" Harry flushed, "I made a stupid Oath when I was drunk to get Savy out of this wetsuit." He shrugged, "And since I didn't particularly want to die a long painful death, I chose to actually complete it. At least Savy will kill me so quickly I probably won't even feel it."
Ash nodded and smirked, "Anyone other than you and I'd say that you were lying. But from what I know and what Savitar has told me about you I'm just going to believe you."
"Thanks." Harry smiled at him briefly before frowning and turning back to the wetsuit that was stubbornly clinging to Savitar's hips. "Stupid wetsuit," he grumbled to himself, "so tight. I hope Savitar wasn't planning on having kids."
Ash choked on a laugh. "Here, he said, putting down a sheet of paper on the floor, "this is the gumbo recipe that you always seem to forget. I'll just leave it here so you can get on with…" he trailed off as he motioned at the whole area.
"It was nice meeting you!" Harry said brightly and Ash grinned widely as he disappeared.
Harry breathed out a sigh of relief which quickly turned into a choked off scream when Savitar grabbed his wrists.
"What are you doing?"
Harry slowly looked up to find Savitar staring at him looking decidedly unimpressed.
Harry said the first thing that popped into his head. "I can fix the vase."
He grimaced and mentally slapped himself.
"What. Are. You. Doing?" Savitar asked slowly, the bloodlust rising slowly but steadily.
Harry started to babble and by the end of the explanation he was breathing heavily and being stared at bemusedly.
"You know, if you just wanted to take my clothes off you could have just said."
Harry flushed and mumbled something as he looked away.
Savitar smirked as he leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "Go on then."
Harry whipped his head around. "What?"
Savitar just nodded at the wetsuit pooling at his waist. "You haven't finished."
Harry swallowed and shifted. "Um, it's stuck…"
Without moving his arms Savitar arched up and, without breaking into a sweat, held himself there.
Harry was distracted by the way his stomach muscles tensed, throwing interesting shadows across the tattoos on his sides. Not really paying attention to what he was doing he reached over and traced the edge of one, dipping his fingers into the grooves between muscles that were hidden in shadows.
He could feel the muscles twitch under his fingertips but it was the heavy breath that Savitar released that brought Harry back to reality.
He closed his eyes and ripped the wetsuit straight off Savitar's hips and down his legs, stumbling to a standing position. He didn't open his eyes again until he was facing the other way.
He dropped the wetsuit on the floor as he felt the magic of the Oath release and disappear, sighing in relief and relaxing. He quickly tensed again when he heard Savitar stand up behind him and walk closer.
"So now that you've got my wetsuit off, what are you going to do now?" He asked lowly.
"This." Harry whipped out his wand and set the wetsuit on fire. With Fiendfire. Better safe than sorry right? Who knows if the Oath would become active again if Savitar wore the wetsuit again.
Savitar let out a curse and pushed past him. Fortunately he'd managed to poof another wetsuit on. Or maybe that was unfortunately.
Whatever it was he was too late to save his wetsuit which had turned into a burnt ring on the floor.
Harry knew that the dark fire curse was good for something!
If it could destroy a horcrux then it could destroy a wetsuit and make sure that there was not enough left for Savitar to fix it.
He felt like cackling.
At least until Savitar stood up with rage in his eyes and said, "That was my favourite wetsuit."