Sold harry/draco 10
Harry felt like he'd spent the afternoon trying to get close to the Whomping Willow by the time he reached the Quidditch Pitch. Every limb was aching and trembling, his sides, chest, and throat on fire from his mad dash to the green, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't manage to fill his lungs with a decent breath.
Ron and Hermione weren't anywhere to be seen, only a few patches of scorched earth and flattened grass could even attest to what Harry and Draco had witnessed. "What happened?" Harry croaked, his voice thin and desperate. He turned towards Draco, a hand lashing out to grab onto his forearm.
The blonde looked more than a little unsettled. He'd been running too and was breathing heavily through his mouth, his hair out of place and his clothes askew from their fooling around. But there was fear on his face and his gray eyes were turned towards the end of the field towards the goal posts.
Harry twisted to see what Draco was looking at with such round eyes and felt a wave of sickness creep into his stomach. The three gold goal rings were now black, thick with hundreds of larger than normal black crows. They cawed quietly and ruffled their feathers, bit at each other with their large thumb-thick beaks, and watched the pair of them with blood colored eyes.
A few years ago, Harry remembered reading about crows in his Defense Against the Dark Arts book. Although a few witches and wizards still kept them as pets, crows had a very dark history. It was no coincidence that a flock of them was called a murder. They were also known to be spies for Dark wizards who often banded them together in large flocks like this and sent them against their enemies to peck them apart. Legend said that if you were killed by a murder of such creatures, they would carry away your soul on their wings and you would be forever fated to live among them as a large, red-eyed crow, always thirsty for blood and flesh.
One of the Crookshanks-sized birds on the top of the middle ring began to scream at them, his call shrill like a cat wailing and it hopped up and down on the goal post. Like the portraits at Grimmauld Place, it was a behavior that the other crows began to mimic quickly. Harry lifted his hands up to his ears and backed away from the goal posts until his back collided with Draco's chest.
The birds seemed to take this as a sign and all at once they took off from their perch. The flurry of beating wings sounded like a thunder storm as the creatures swooped at them. "Get down!" Harry yelled and grabbed Draco around the shoulders pitching them both forward into the grass and dirt.
The crows swarmed over them, the wind of their wings, the claws on their feet, and their mean, sharp beaks ruffling their hair and clothes, tearing their uniforms and biting into their skin. Draco had covered his head and Harry did the same although it didn't keep them from biting their ears and fingers and the soft skin of their sides and thighs.
"We have to get out of here!" Harry could hear Draco's wailing even through the mad beat of wings and screeching noise of the birds. He took an arm from around his head and curled it around the body of the boy next to him. Beneath this new protective limb, Harry noticed that Draco was trembling.
"On the count of three we'll get up and run for the broom shed. Guard your face. Ready?" Draco was right. They had to get out of here, already Harry could feel blood trickling out from a million tears in his body. They'd be eaten alive if they stayed out there in the open any longer. "One! Two! Three!"
Both boys sprang up together and surprisingly the swarm of black bodies around them exploded up into the sky and away from them. "What? What's going on?" Harry dared to look up at the dark cloud of birds as they flew away from the Pitch and away from the school. He was curious as to why they would just attack and leave the moment they stood, but at the same time he wasn't going to argue.
"Are you alright?" He asked, looking over at Draco. The other boy nodded in response but he was still shaking, his clothes torn and dirty, his hair ruffled and pulled, and a large bead of blood dripping from a gash on his forehead and down the side of his face.
Usually, when Draco was even bumped, he would make a big production out of it, wailing and moaning to get attention. It was because of this past that Harry was a bit worried now that he was being so quiet. "They dropped this." Draco did say as he crouched down and picked up a small scroll of parchment. Sliding it open with his fingers, Draco read and then, with a frown, passed the note to Harry.
He took it quickly and holding it open, he read:
Pretty Potter and Darling Draco,
I hope you still have eyes to read this! It would be a true
shame if I spent so much time and hard work to put
everything together only to have it ruined by the fact
that you couldn't see the fruits of my labor.
By now you probably realize that I've taken your
cute little friends hostage. If you want to get them
back, you must follow my babies into Hogsmeade.
They will guide you to me and my most precious
captives.
The pair of you will be their ransom, pay
in full or, as you can probably guess, I'll kill them.
Although that doesn't seem like an entirely bad
idea, I'd much rather have the pair of you than
the pair of them.
Of course, knowing how stupidly noble you are,
my Pretty Pet Potter, I'm sure you won't hesitate
to come running to their rescue. So, I'll see you
soon. Really, I look forward to tasting your body
again. What I had of it wasn't enough to satisfy
me.
All my love,
Rodolphus Lestrange
P.S. Wear something sexy.
Harry growled, crumpling up the letter in his hand and tossing it into the air. He caught it mid flight with ‘incendio' and it hit the ground a swiftly shriveling ball of fire. "I'm going to kill him!" Harry seethed, feeling bitter and curdled inside with rage.
"Aren't you going to change first?" Draco asked in a soft tone. The note, after all, had said to wear something sexy. Harry sent him an icy glare and the blonde lifted a hand slightly. "Just a joke."
"You have to come with me," Harry announced. "The note said that the both of us have to come."
"Relax, Harry, I-" Draco began but was swiftly cut off.
"No! Please, Draco, you have to come." Harry seemed anxious and desperate. "You don't understand, this isn't a choice. You're coming."
"But-"
"I know Ron was never really nice to you, even after this summer, but Draco, you can't hold that against him! Not when it's a matter of life and death!"
"Harry, I don't-"
"Please!" Harry grabbed both of Draco's shoulders, making the blonde wince. "Draco, just say you'll come with me! That's all I want to hear! If I mean anything to you, just say that you'll come."
By now, not being able to get a word in edgewise, Draco was scowling. Maybe he should just say no if Harry was so sure he needed convincing. He glared at the other boy and tried to pull away but the Gryffindor held him fast. "Say you'll come with me," he pleaded softly.
"I'll go with you." Draco was surprised when he actually managed to get a complete sentence out, even though it was the same sentence he'd been trying to say since the whole ordeal had began. He waited with bated breath for Harry to lash out, not having listened, but nothing ever came so he added, "that's what I've been trying to say all this time."
"Oh. Really?" Harry blushed a little bit as the situation finally registered in his concern-slowed mind. "Sorry. I just really thought I'd have to convince you somehow."
"Obviously." Draco replied and then took one of Harry's hands, leading him away from the now smoldering ball of paper. "Come on, we have to get out of here. We can't afford to waste time here. Who knows how long that lunatic is going to wait."
****
Even under the grim circumstances they were in, Harry couldn't help but feel a deep sense of pride as he followed Draco across the grounds towards the village of Hogsmeade. Since they had already been on the Quidditch Pitch, they decided to break into the nearby broom shed and nick a ride to take them into town. It would be much faster and Draco had been against walking under any secret passages in the school.
Flying at this time of night in their condition made it a bit difficult. It was cold and the thin, shredded clothes they wore did little to protect them from the licks of wind that rushed over and past them as they flew. Although none of the crow bites or scratches were very deep, there were a lot of them, and they had begun to ache, especially on his hands and thighs where he gripped the broomstick tightly.
However, the discomfort of it all was paltry in comparison to the warmth and satisfaction he felt when watching the blonde. The situation they were in seemed so surreal. Hermione and Ron were kidnaped by Death Eaters but instead of a large group of Gryffindors tromping off to rescue them, he had Draco, a boy he'd always thought would be his enemy, not only at his side but leading the way.
Although the crows had disappeared from view, the note had said they would be going to Hogsmeade and with the numbers the murder had it shouldn't be too difficult to find them. Draco's flight slowed to bring him next to Harry as they passed the gates to Hogwarts. "We should have a plan, don't you think?" He asked, looking from Harry to their destination with a serious expression.
A plan? Harry pondered Draco's words. Had he ever gone into anything with a plan before? Not really. Not that he could recall. When he landed himself in trouble against Voldemort, one thing had just lead to another and before he knew it he was face to face with the Dark Lord. He looked over at the blonde realizing, by the way Draco scowled at him, that he must look completely bewildered. "A plan?"
"Yes, a plan!" Draco snapped, fidgeting slightly on his broom to get more comfortable before looking forward again. "You can't just run into these things without some sort of plan, you'll be killed!"
"But Draco," Harry began, still watching him. "How can you plan for something like this? We don't know where we're going or what we're walking into."
The blonde looked uncomfortable at this, glaring at Hogsmeade with a frustrated glint in his eye.
"Draco, are you scared?" Harry asked suddenly, his voice soft.
He didn't reply right away as they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Slowing their brooms to a halt, Draco slowly slipped off and to the ground. "Of course I"m scared." He finally answered. "We're walking right into the hands of You-Know-Who." He looked at Harry briefly and then down High Street, which crawled out before them. "I've been trying to avoid this day for the majority of my life."
"It'll be alright." Harry replied, overcome with the sudden desire to protect him. He took hold of Draco's hand, pulling the blonde close to him as they started down the road. "I'll protect you."
Hogsmeade was vacant. Harry wasn't entirely surprised, with all the Death Eater attacks that summer going out after dark wasn't a good idea. There were, however, a few lights on in windows from the various shops and homes above them.
"I don't see any of the crows," Harry commented as they past Zonko's Joke Shop. They were more than halfway through the city and he hadn't seen a single black feather. What if they couldn't find the birds at all? What if they couldn't follow Lestrange's feeble clues and Rodolphus thought they weren't coming?
Before Harry's thoughts got even more out of control, Draco pointed down a side street that Harry knew led to the Hogs Head. "How about that?" He asked. A short distance away, two crows were fighting over something in the street, pulling it between their beaks. As Harry and Draco got closer they flew away dropping what they held. It was easily recognizable as a red and gold Hogwarts tie.
As Harry picked up the tie, holding it up. A gold Prefects badge was pinned to the middle of it and was circled by a ring of burnt silk. Above it was written the time: 8:02. A Portkey. "What time is it now?" Harry watched the Prefects badge as it glittered a bit sinisterly, he thought, under the half light of the moon.
Draco drew out a pocket watch from his robes, glancing down at the time. "Seven fifty nine."
"Three minutes from now." Harry said slowly and looked over at Draco. He put his thumb on the Prefect's badge and held the tie out towards him. "You touch it too. I don't want to leave you behind."
The blonde nodded slowly and took a step closer to Harry, putting his thumb on the other half of the badge that had been left for him.
"Are you ready?" Harry asked and when Draco shook his head ‘no', he slid an arm around the Slytherin's waist, pulling him closer. "I will protect you," Harry repeated and leaned forward to rest their foreheads together. "It's just about the only thing I'm really good at."
"I trust you," Draco said finally, looking down into Harry's eyes. He leaned forward just a bit more, his eyes drifting closed as he brought their mouths together. The kiss was soft and tender and in it, Harry felt Draco's trembling cease. Before it could end, though, they were being pulled along by something just behind their belly button through a tunnel of wind and color.
They were deposited heavily in a location that Harry had only seen in his dreams. The house was old and rich surrounded by an overgrown garden. Although the location was familiar, Harry also knew it was very far away from Hogwarts, and even London, but he couldn't quite put a name to the place. "Where are we?" He asked, keeping hold of Draco's hand as they turned to face the mansion.
Draco eyed the structure with disdain and then looked over at Harry with a brooding hint in his eyes. "This is the Riddle House." He said slowly. "Where You-Know-Who-" But Draco didn't need to finish. Harry remembered everything instantly.
"Then that means he's probably-"
"He's probably not there," Draco finished. "The Dark Lord has to have moved on to other places by now but that doesn't mean Weasley and Granger aren't here. Along with that...that nut."
Harry wished, once he was finally there, looking up at the menacing old house, that he and Draco had come up with some sort of plan beforehand. Just the sight of the mansion coupled with what Harry remembered from his fourteen year old dreams made his skin crawl. "Maybe we should-" he began but before he could finish, the front door to the Riddle House was thrown open.
"Well don't just stand there all day, come in and say hello!" Rodolphus Lestrange was standing in the doorway, the hood of his Death Eater robes pulled down from his head and his bony hands and arms outstretched.
Harry and Draco both reached for their wands but before they could draw them out, two figures had detached themselves from the shadows and the overgrown garden and jabbed the warm ends of their wands against the small of their backs. "Not a good idea." Sad a masculine voice from behind Draco.
When he tried to turn around to see who was speaking he was pushed forward a bit by the end of the wand. "Just keep looking forward." He ordered.
"Here we are again, little baby Potter." Harry's guard was definitely female and Harry didn't have to turn around to see who it was. Bellatrix slid an arm around Harry's throat grinding the tip of her wand against his spine. "You're really not very smart are you?" She purred, her lips near to Harry's ear. He jerked away, his hand, still on his wand, gripping tighter.
Bellatrix laughed out loud at his reaction while beside her, Rabastan started giving orders again. "You can disarm yourselves now. Throw your wands into the bushes, both of you. Do it now."
Neither boy moved.
"Do it!" Rabastan snapped and thrust Draco forward onto his hands and knees on the ground. "Crucio!" The spell whipped from out the end of his wand and Draco hollered in agony, his body twisting into unnatural forms as he convulsed under the sway of the Unforgivable.
On the front stairs, Rodolphus was shrieking with laughter.
Harry's wand was out in a flash but before he could use it, Bellatrix took hold of the thick, switch of wood just above his own fingers. "Nah ah ah." She purred into his ear, shoving her wand into one of Harry's kidneys.
"Gah!" Harry grit his teeth, his back arching away from the wand as pain rippled through his body.
"Drop your wand." Bellatrix ordered in a dark voice. "Neither of you will have to hurt if you'd just-" When Harry threw his wand as far away from him as he could, Bellatrix smiled. "There's a good boy."
The spell on Draco abated and as he lay there panting and wishing to die, Rabastan stooped down to pick up the wand from his hand, tossing it into the garden. "Was that really so difficult?" He asked, picking Draco up by the back of his robes and hauling him to his feet.
"Draco!" Harry tried to pull away from Bellatrix but her grip only tightened. "Draco are you alright? Say something!" He didn't like the way the blonde hung from Rabastan's arms like a rag doll.
"I can't take it any longer!" Rodolphus exclaimed, still giggling in excitement. He stepped away from the front door as Bellatrix and Rabastan dragged the two captives to the Riddle House. Following them inside, he slammed the door behind them and then rushed forward to take Harry from his wife.
"You came! Well, of course you're came, but you're finally here!" Harry glared at Rodolphus. How come he sounded like Harry had come to visit on his own free will? Like they were old friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time. "We're going to have so much fun, Pretty Potter." Rodolphus said gleefully, close to Harry's ear. His hands crept around his waist to grope his chest and then push down over his abdomen and sink beneath the front of his pants. "I'm going to have so much fun with you."
"GET OFF OF ME!" Harry shouted as Lestrange grabbed something he shouldn't have. He drove his elbow backwards, as hard as he could, right into Rodolphus' stomach and felt it connect with soft, yielding flesh.
The Death Eater groaned, his fingers loosening their grip around Harry enough for the Gryffindor to pull himself free. He twisted away from Rodolphus turning to glare at him, raising his fists.
Bellatrix was laughing now as Rodolphus wobbled on one knee on the floor, holding his stomach. Of course, Harry realized a second too late that Rodolphus was smiling too. "You're perfect," He said sounding drunk as he rose to his feet slowly, looming over Harry. "I love it. I love it when they fight back a little bit. That's what your little friends did too. All of you are so perfect."
"Where are they?" Harry shouted, backing away from Rodolphus as he moved a few steps closer. "Where are Ron and Hermione? What did you do to them?"
"Oh them," Rodolphus' smile grew and so did Bellatrix' amused, shrill laughter. "I had to punish them just a little bit. But they're being good right now. Nice and quiet and obedient. Would you like to see them?"
Harry felt his heart race with fear. The way Rodolphus said that, the way he described them, Ron and Hermione-they couldn't be....they couldn't be-"No!" He shouted, clapping his hands up over his ears.
"No, you don't want to see them?" Lestrange asked, staring at Harry a bit stupidly.
"Yes I want to see them!" Harry wailed and didn't even back away as Rodolphus approached and took hold of his wrists.
"I'll take you to them." He said warmly and, twisting Harry's hands and arms behind his back, lead him deeper into the house.
****
When Draco woke up he felt like he'd been thrown off of the top of Gryffindor tower. He felt like pudding inside, like all of his organs had exploded and melted together. He felt like he was slowly dying. He tried to push himself up slowly but found that his arms were frozen to his sides.
"Draco? Draco are you alright?" Draco was aware of Harry's voice dimly in the back of his head and twisted slowly towards it on the floor. He could see the Gryffindor plainly now. His hands were bound together by rope that stretched upwards towards the ceiling were it coiled around a chandelier. Harry was only given enough rope to remain on his tip toes, if he lost his footing he'd be dangling freely. The room they were in was circular and Harry was in the very middle of it.
"W-What?" He asked, his voice a groan. It hurt to talk, his throat was so dry. Draco realized then as he looked down at himself that he was also bound by rope, his hands behind his back, his arms to his sides, his legs and feet together. He couldn't gather the energy to panic though, even looking around like this made him throb. He let his head sink back to the wooden floor.
The door to the room opened but Draco didn't look up as Rodolphus entered, dragging two bodies behind him. Ron and Hermione were bound and gagged but Harry could see from the light in their eyes when they saw him and Draco, still again a few feet away, that they were both alive.
Ron looked terrible, his face bloody and puffy from cuts and bruises where he'd been beaten. The gag on his mouth was already soaked through with blood and from the way he winced at every move, Harry realized probably more than one bone in his body had been broken. Hermione wasn't much better off. She'd been hit too but not beaten as badly as Ron had been. She was missing the vest to her uniform and her shirt was bloodied and torn open. Her skirt was also worse for wear, long angry cuts traveling across and between her thighs.
"Ron! Hermione!" Harry twisted in the ropes that held him, losing his feeble footing and rocking back and forth as he swung.
"It's like a happy reunion!" Lestrange smiled warmly and dropped his cargo in the middle of the floor. Crouching between the two Gryffindor prefects, Lestrange smiled up at Harry. It reminded him of the way Hedwig always brought him back dead mice from her hunting as gifts.
"Let me down." Harry ordered and Lestrange's smile turned to one of amusement. "I want to talk to them! I want to see if they're okay!"
"Well they're alive aren't they? That's good news!" Slowly, Lestrange dragged Hermione and then Ron to lean against the opposite wall so they could face Harry and Draco and see them easily before he yanked down the gags pushed in their mouths.
"Harry!" Hermione was the first to be freed and thus the first to speak. "Are you alright? What happened? What happened to Draco? You shouldn't have come! You shouldn't have come alone! Did you tell anyone before you left? Harry!"
Ron didn't say anything was his gag was removed, but he did lick his bloody lips, twisting his head to the side to wipe his mouth on his shoulder.
Harry was both relieved and horrified. He was glad they were alright, that they were both still alive but the situation they were in was suddenly so grave and helpless. He couldn't think of anything decent to say to Hermione's questions so he just sighed and looked over at Draco.
The blonde had rolled onto his back and was staring up at the ceiling and Harry thought he saw tears in his eyes. He couldn't protect them, Harry realized. He couldn't protect any of them.
Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9,Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12 (final)