herumtreiber

Title: Unusual ending 27/32
Chapter: Harry finds himself - part one
Author:

herumtreiber
Genre: Slash, time travel, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: chair death
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length: ~5,400 for the two parts
Summary: Old meets new. Harry walks all over Draco's heart, and when he realizes his mistakes he does the unforgivable so Draco takes him back. Time travel. During HBP, disregards Deathly Hallows - that means everyone's alive, except Sirius, but...

Table of contents

26. The trap is sprung - 2/2

Harry squirmed on the chair, trying to get rid of the vines that were slowly cutting the circulation to his wrists. He felt sweat pooling below the elastic band of his pants as a drop of water fell on his forehead from the dripping roof of the dungeon.

"It's pointless to resist, Potter!" The smooth voice of Tom Riddle continued taunting Harry with the reminder of the futility of all he'd done. The Light Side appeared to be a step behind the bloody Heir of Slytherin.

"The wards I've drawn are invincible." Riddle stood up and with a graceful motion of his slim arm he wielded the Elder wand, casting a spell that created a window outside whatever hellish place Harry was trapped in.

The brunet squinted, his vision obstructed by the sweat falling on his eyelids and the dripping water from above. The window showed a deserted stretch of cliff obscured by green, writhing drapes that moved obeying Riddle's will.

Harry looked up at his adversary, growling, "What in the bloody hell did you do to look so young?"

Tom smirked, lifting his hand and ruffling his tousled hair. "This is the question you ask, Harry? I must say I'm a bit disappointed."

Tom twirled the wand, holding it between his middle finger and his thumb, the motion eerily reminding Harry of writhing Nagini, the snake that had been killed by the twins and Draco. The window disappeared whilst the Dark Lord answered Harry, "Dark Magic, Harry. It has sustained me so far."

Tom leaned forward until his forehead almost touched Harry's. "I was helped by something else though, a new discovery that has… widened my scope if you will."

Riddle lifted his hand and delicately pushed aside Harry's fringe, studying his scar with utmost interest. "My nearness. It doesn't hurt you."

It was true. In the past, whenever the Dark Lord was near or Harry received a vision from Voldemort, his scar hurt him terribly. But now he felt nothing at all, not even an itch. The Gryffindor was tempted to deny it, to say that it hurt him but he felt it was futile. Voldemort would fish in his mind for the information and Harry wanted to conserve his strength to try to escape. So he nodded.

"How puzzling!" Tom stood straight. "It is an interesting phenomenon I'd like to study, but I'm afraid I won't have time. You see-"

Tom smiled cruelly whilst he twirled the Elder wand between his fingers.

"-I'll kill you soon. But be assured you'll die after your friends."

"LET THEM GO!" shouted Harry, struggling with the bonds. "You've got me. They are useless to you!"

"Bellatrix tells me they killed Nagini!" snarled Tom, taking a step towards the door. "They will die but not before I let sweet Bella play with them. And then my other Death Eaters will have their sport. ´Tis a pity that-"

Voldemort was interrupted by Bellatrix throwing open the door. The witch bowed as she said in a reedy tone, "My Lord, the wards have been breached! Intruders are fighting against our guards!"

"They passed the wards? How?" Tom frowned fiercely and with a casual sweep of his wand he cast a spell that blasted a part of the stone wall. Shards hit Harry's robes, cutting his shoulder and his cheek.

"Don't know, my Lord. The Dementors were chased by several Patronuses, Slughorn says amongst them was ickle Severus' doe!"

"The traitor!" Tom walked to the door. At the threshold, he paused and turned to Harry. "I'm afraid I won't have the pleasure to kill you personally, Harry. However…"

Tom swished his wand and conjured a metal pendulum tipped with a bladed edge above Harry. "That," said Tom pointing to the device. "Will drop in half a minute."

Fearful cries drifted through the door along with the acrid stench of burning flesh. Tom waved mockingly towards Harry as he pushed Bellatrix' back. "It wasn't a pleasure knowing you, Harry."

Without saying more, Riddle went out the door and closed it firmly behind him.

Harry stared at the shiny surface of the pendulum, seemingly mesmerized. Dumbledore's words came back to haunt his thoughts. Maybe I should let the thing fall and kill me. The Prophecy would be fulfilled; the Horcrux in me would die. Someone else like Neville can kill the Dark Lord.

As the seconds trickled by relentlessly so did Harry's recollections. He remembered the sun shining upon Draco's hair as he sauntered in the Manor garden, his stormy eyes fixing on Harry as he painfully bared his secrets. His arms holding Harry. His lips kissing him as they entwined their bodies. Loving him. Being loved by Draco.

Ron's face came unbidden to Harry's mind, shining in the Lumos light as he grudgingly supported Harry's relationship with Draco. Ron who turned out to have strong, if wrong reasons, to have seemingly turned against Harry.

The Gryffindor visualized Hermione's face when she chastised him a while ago, a time that seemed like months past. Back when he thought he had his life before him. Hermione, his other best friend who had mysteriously changed her mind regarding him and now supported him as unconditionally as she used to do, before the whole nightmare began.

Struggling mightily against the magical vine, Harry knew viscerally that he couldn't leave them behind - Draco and his best friends - to fight alone against Voldemort. Bloody Prophecy be damned! Dumbledore hasn't proved to be very wise. I'll fight my own fight whenever I bloody wish!

In the last seconds before the sharp edge of the heavy pendulum would fall against his chest, Harry recalled Remus teaching in the DADA classroom. He tried to visualize in his mind the beginning of that Weird Sisters song but it eluded him like the fluttering Snitch. Instead, out of the depths of his memory came the faint melody of a lullaby sang by a woman's sweet contralto.

'Sleep well tonight, my prince / Your dreams shall come true one day…"

Harry directed his gaze upward, and just as the pendulum began to fall, he used the soothing, slow melody to power the spell Remus taught him. He wandlessly cast 'Adagissimo.'

The device fell as slowly as if it was a feather adrift in the breeze, together with several drops of water. Harry had time enough to twist his body sideways and cast a spell Moody drilled into their minds during the gruelling training sessions Draco had come to adore. 'Subseco totalis.'

The vines parted like the waters of the Black Lake disturbed by the Giant Squid. Harry lurched sideways and fell to the floor with a loud thump, just before the pendulum cut cleanly through the chair where he'd been.

Harry ran through the corridors, clutching his wand. The portly man who had transported him to Voldemort's lair, wherever it was, had been killed by a stray Avada Kedavra.

In the rush to find a weapon and join the battle, Harry had searched through the man's coat until he found the wand.

Harry ducked to avoid a red beam whilst he cast a Protego shield. He came to a small hall and stood open mouthed when he saw the figure in front of him, for it was himself!

The Gryffindor directed his wand at the impostor. "Bloody Death Eater, where did you get the hair for the Polyjuice?"

Before he could do anything, the other boy approached him and swung his fist towards Harry's face, hitting him with a sickening sound which meant he'd broken Harry's nose.

"That's for sending me to King's Cross! I HAD TO WAIT A WHOLE HOUR TILL MOM SHOWED UP!"

Harry knelt on the floor as the other boy continued shouting, "And there was this bloody thing under the seat, like a dead seal!"

The Gryffindor shook his head, warily pointing his wand towards the seemingly hysterical impostor. "What in the bloody hell d'you mean? Are you barmy?"

The other Potter brandished his wand towards Harry. "It's you who ki-"

"Enough, Potter! Leave Harry alone!" yelled Draco as he approached the two bickering Potters, with the Weasley twins in tow. Fred and George were bleeding from cuts in their necks and hands but otherwise they were healthy, which made Harry sigh in relief.

Draco knelt down in front of Harry and waved his hawthorn wand in elliptical fashion over Harry's face as he said, 'Episkey.'

Draco touched Harry's cheek lingeringly, savouring the moment as he whispered huskily, "Thank Merlin you're safe, Harry! Would've come sooner but something compelled me to go to the dungeon were these two were held." The blond pointed his wand towards the smirking twins.

Fred winked at Harry. "It was the Life Debt…"

"… you owe us, Draco. 'Cause we…"

"…. saved your life when we made Harry…"

"… give you a BJ," finished George, leering at Draco.

"What is a BJ?" asked Harry as he stood up, looking towards the heavy wooden door at the end of the room.

The other Potter lifted his arms to the ceiling, growling, "It's a blow job, you git! Can't believe you're a year older than me!"

"A blow job?" Harry looked sharply at Draco, who was blushing.

"I'll tell you later." The blond pointed a shaky arm to the door. "We have to save our friends."

George nudged Fred's elbow. "Our friend doesn't want Harry angry. Wait till he finds out 'bout-"

"Enough of your bickering, you fools!" yelled angrily the Potions Master from the door. He'd opened it a moment before, looking for Harry and Draco.

"Your mother needs you, Draco. There are more Death Eaters than we thought. The mutt sent me to get you!" Snape motioned with his arm to the room behind him.

Hearing that, Draco rushed towards the door followed closely by the group comprised of two Weasleys and two Potters whilst Harry shook his head, deciding to ask questions after the battle was over.

The scene that greeted them on the huge hall was pandemonium. Harry saw Ron and Hermione back to back, firing spells at several Death Eaters, barely holding their own.

When Draco espied several hulking dark wizards holding Pansy and Blaise at bay he ran to them, taking out his wand and firing spells in rapid succession that knocked out two of the assailants.

Blaise growled, "I could've taken them myself, Draco. I can defend my girlfriend!"

"Like hell you can, Blaise! Had to rescue you, if you remember!" huffed Pansy.

Draco stood beside his friends, ducking to avoid a curse sent by his aunt. "Finally you two got together! Thought I'd had to interfere."

Meanwhile, the other Potter had gone to join Cho and Padma, who were fighting off two werewolves.

On the corner, Harry saw the trunk where Mad Moody had been imprisoned in the vision. A violet beam fell next to it, gouging out a piece of the ground. Harry cast a shield over the trunk and ran to it, intent on saving Moody.

Narcissa was fighting her mad sister. She was weakened by the loss of blood after the transfusion and her spells lacked her usual strength. Bellatrix smiled viciously as she deftly disarmed her with a lateral motion of her wand.

"Poor Cissy. You're not fighting like a pureblood should, like a Black! Ickle Draco giving you trouble?" Bellatrix approached the prostrate Narcissa, smirking cruelly. "Don't worry, I'll kill him soon, but I'll be merciful for I'll finish you first!"

Narcissa glared at her sister. "You bitch! If you kill me, I'll die happy having held my newborn nephew today! You'll always be alone!"

"How dare you!" shrieked Bellatrix, waving her wand and shouting 'Crucio' at Narcissa.

Having freed Moody, Harry turned and saw Draco's mother writhing on the floor. He started to make his way towards them but a dark wizard tried to kill him. The man couldn't finish the curse, falling when someone threw a spell at him.

Draco ran towards his aunt, casting a shield around his mother. "Leave her alone, bitch!"

Bellatrix turned towards Draco, her wild curls falling loosely around her demented face. The perfect picture of Medusa intent on turning her victim into stone.

"Ickle Draco wants to fight?" She fired a curse at Draco who threw himself to the floor to avoid it, rolling on the dirty surface.

Bellatrix prepared to throw the Killing Curse at her nephew but she was hit by a red beam as a voice drawled coolly. "Leave him alone, Bella! You and I have to finish our fight."

Seeing her adversary, Lestrange's face paled. "It can't be you! You're dead, I saw you fall!"

Harry followed Bellatrix' gaze and blanched. Coming out from behind the dark smoke of the battle, a face he knew well grimaced in distaste at Lestrange.

"Things are not always as they seem, Bella," said the man who had long black hair that fell to his shoulders and a goatee that was perfectly cared for. The man shrugged, his black cloak draping around his broad shoulders, his rugged face breaking into a smile when he saw Harry. His striking grey eyes shined with mirth and passion.

An irrepressible grin tugging his lips upwards, Sirius Black shot a spell at Bellatrix. She was too stunned to react and the curse hit her, making her bloat. She grew in size as she vainly tried to speak. No words came out of her mouth due to her huge tongue. She ballooned until she exploded, the pieces flying outward as they became translucent and disappeared.

Bellatrix Lestrange was no more.

Harry finds himself - part two