herumtreiber

Title: Unusual ending - chapter 15 - 2
Chapter: fifteen- part two
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: R
Warnings: Sexual content
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length: 2053 words
Beta: None.
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

The man who walked through wards - 1/2

Draco saw her aunt's murderous expression and hurriedly cast a shield on Harry, as did Hermione.

The result of the three spells crashing against the three interconnecting shields was deafening – the magical shock spread outwards and threw the persons outside the shields several feet away. The energy ball followed a path that led it to Voldemort's golden throne. The chair flew away and crashed against Rabastan, who was fighting Swann. The Hufflepuff Auror had been at great disadvantage because of his impaired vision, but the throne hitting Rabastan allowed him to immobilise the Death Eater and continue the battle - albeit nearsightedly.

Bellatrix, undaunted, stood up and cast another spell at Draco, shrieking, "Traitor! It's your bloody fault!"

Narcissa hastened to Draco's side, intent on protecting her son at all costs, even if she had to eliminate her older sister.

It was Harry who cast a shield around them and the spell bounced.

As the battle raged all around them, the flashing lights of the spells hurled in every side illuminated Bella's face and lent it the inhuman qualities of a magical beast intent on wreaking havoc. The planes of her face were cast in sharp relief, and her tangled locks looked indeed like a nest of awakening serpents. Her eyes shined with inner madness, and her movements were efficient and intelligent one moment, and jerky the next.

Bellatrix smirked; she was not Voldemort's favourite for nothing. She took a sharp dagger from inside her robes and threw it at the boys, not caring whether she killed Harry or her traitorous nephew – they were equally worthless in her skewed view. She knew that their shields would stop the spells she could cast, but they were useless against her dagger, magically cured by the Dark Lord.

Harry saw the dagger hurtling towards them and hurriedly cast another shield, hoping it would stop the deadly instrument.

Dobby was on Harry's left side. The elf watched the shiny lethal object and snapped his fingers, willing to move the boys out of the accursed castle.

Narcissa moved towards her son, trying to put herself in the dagger's path, because she was certain that her older sister had many tricks up her sleeve.

Remus had reached the boys in the mayhem of the battle and he tried to cast the time-slowing spell; but he needed at least two seconds to call up the imagery of slow music. Meanwhile the dagger continued its inexorable path, dictated by physics and hate, towards Draco's chest.

In the intermittent light of the many-coloured spells flying around the hall, Draco's blond hair appeared to have many shades - his robes were tattered and grimy, his stance tired. Yet Draco faced the threat resolutely and did not despair, casting at the last moment a special shield Lucius had taught him, back in the days when his father was not so obsessed with pleasing Voldemort and had the time and leisure to spend doting on Draco.

The dagger was five feet away when an intense glow emanated from Dobby.

Pansy paused in her struggle against Pius Thicknesse. The imperiused Ministry employee was fighting a mental battle against the magical shackles imposed by Dolohov, and he wasn't fighting as efficiently or deadly as the Imperius insisted. So Pansy had a moment to watch the scene in despair.

Ron had dodged an attack by Alecto Carrow when he noticed the glow near him, he only had time to turn his head and watch helplessly what unfolded scant feet away from him.

Albus Dumbledore watched the boys in despair, unable to act or help his favourite student in any way. He was trapped by the spell Moody cast on him, hidden safely beneath the Invisibility Cloak – knowing that he had been wrong and Voldemort had not possessed Harry. Though that dark cloud hinted that Tom Riddle's soul remained firmly embedded in the physical plane, tugged by his Horcruxes.

The glow enveloped Draco and Harry as the dagger held its course, now three feet away from Draco.

Blaise stood next to Parvati, Cho's prone body between them. The Slytherin and the Gryffindor ably defended themselves as Parvati threw an anxious glance at Cho. The Ravenclaw was writhing on the floor, bleeding though not profusely. Blaise ducked to avoid the red beam of a spell cast by a Death Eater he didn't recognise. As he stood up he turned to the right and noticed the bright glow enveloping his best friend, there was nothing he could do but watch in misery, as long as the brief respite in the battle allowed.

As the dagger was two feet from Draco, the light enveloped Narcissa and Remus, and the group started to disappear, Dobby first.

Barely noticed by the participants, a brown rat with a silver paw zigzagged crazily across the hall, eagerly seeking the sanctuary of the stairs and the dungeons beneath. There was urgency to the rodent's race, because he was pursued ruthlessly by an orange blur that passed near Hermione.

Hogwart's top student had fought efficiently, throwing spells right and left. There were two particular ones she'd read about while researching about the nature of time in her quest to save Harry: Provectus and Caecus temporis– the one caused a person to temporarily become old, the other negated the time sense of the recipient. Hermione had used the first effectively to fight Amycus Carrow, but the second didn't work as she thought it would. Her attention had been fixed on Fenrir Greyback, who wandlessly threw Swann against the upturned golden throne. The werewolf slavered as he pounced on the downed Auror, intending to bite him.

Narcissa and Remus disappeared, and only Harry and Draco remained in the hall, their shapes becoming increasingly indistinct as the dagger was only inches away from Draco.

Hermione muttered, 'Provectus!' The spell she used temporarily aged Greyback until he became a doddering old wolf.

When she noticed the orange blur, Hermione barely had time to wonder what Crookshanks was doing here, or where the ginger cat had come from. Following her cat's frantic pace, she noticed the glow enveloping the boys.

Hermione acted reflexively; with a sweeping movement of her wand directed towards Harry, she cast the first spell she thought of.

The beam arched towards the boys; but before Hermione's spell reached them, Harry and Draco disappeared – together with Bellatrix' deadly weapon.

In a towering rage, Pansy cast a curse at Bellatrix; but the Black witch moved aside, evading the beam whilst she cackled madly. Having done her evil work, Bellatrix ran to the Floo that was next to the dragon's carcass and disappeared in a flash of green light. Alecto Carrow, who was rapidly losing her battle with Moody, followed Bella's example. She ran towards the Floo, diving and disappearing as she giggled insanely.

The other Death Eaters, realising that the Floo network was open, fought a rearward action and withdrew from Slytherin Castle one at a time.

Dobby willed them far away, but his magic was no match for Voldemort's wards and the group reappeared in the dungeon where the splinters of the destroyed cabinet littered the floor.

When Harry could see after the light disappeared, he noticed Draco falling to the floor, with the handle of the dagger sticking out of his chest.

Harry moaned in anguish, but it went unheard due to Narcissa's screams. She held Draco's left arm, ameliorating his fall.

Narcissa crouched next to Draco and held him, exchanging a horrified glance with Remus. There was nothing she could do about the weapon, it required a Healer. But Poppy was at Hogwarts, and St. Mungo's seemed very far – an impenetrable magical ward away.

Harry rubbed his hands in despair and touched Draco's cheek with his right hand. He turned to look at Narcissa and asked, "What'll we do?"

Dobby wrung his hands, chastising himself for failing to disappear on time.

Narcissa tried to remember spells that would help Draco, but she only knew minor healing spells, such that were necessary to heal of the wounds of an active and high-spirited young wizard. She sat on the dirty floor and held Draco against her legs, so he was propped up and had less difficulty breathing.

Harry looked at Remus and asked brokenly, "Won't you help him?"

Remus crouched next to Draco, trying to think of a spell that could help the Slytherin. Unfortunately, the DADA teacher specialised in defensive spells, and he was not good with healing spells. When the Marauders were together, it had always been Lily the one who took it upon herself to research those spells.

Harry moaned when he saw blood seeping through Draco's lips. He felt so useless, so powerless. Why didn't he have a Time-Turner so he could go back in time and avoid his boyfriend getting so horribly hurt?

Harry gazed upward and noticed a leaf slowly floating down. In that torturous instant out of his deepest nightmares - his mind desperately trying to shy away from the bitter reality of his love dying in front of him - Harry wondered if the leaf was an ingredient in a potion.

Draco wheezed, the trickle of blood coming from his lips growing thicker. His eyes had been closed, but then he opened them – and it tore Harry's heart that Draco's vibrant and stormy grey eyes were now almost glassy.

Just then, a man sauntered into the dungeon, his entrance unnoticed at first. The man wore a white robe and his hair was also white; his porcelain skin wrinkled as old parchment. The only note of colour about him were the dark eyeglasses he wore, their surface glinting with the dim light of the sole sconce – the light that had survived the heated battle of the boys against the serpent.

Narcissa looked blindly to the newcomer, lifting her arms in supplication. At that moment, it didn't matter to her who was the man, her only thoughts concerned the health of her son, and she would do anything so Draco would survive. Yet in the innermost recesses of her mind, she had a strong feeling of déjà vu, it felt as though she'd met the man many times before.

Harry followed Narcissa's gaze and recognised his benefactor, the old man that had started it all - the one that gave him the chance to start again with Draco. Harry also looked beseechingly at the old man, hoping that he could perform a miracle once again and save his Dragon.

Time seemed to move in a slow cadence befitting the gravity of the moment; it felt disjointed, disconnected - like the battle itself – as if they were living in an isolated time stream completely apart from the outside world.

Harry wondered about the man, about how he had penetrated Voldemort's redoubt – the apparently impenetrable wards that resisted Dobby's powerful elf magic. He also theorised about the man's reasons for coming here. In that timeless interval, he noticed the black wood splinters of the destroyed cabinet, gleaming in the dim light. Harry shivered uncontrollably due to the cold night, an eerie echo of the cold that was slowly gripping his heart as the moments ticked relentlessly away, leaving his mind defenceless against the inexorable reality of Draco's mortal wound.

Harry smelt the dank dungeon - and the dragon's decaying flesh - and it felt as if he could sense the fear and hopelessness of Voldemort's victims when they were trapped in the evil castle.

Remus followed the progress of the old man as he crouched next to Draco; there was something about the man's movements that seemed oddly familiar – as if he was a friend or foe from yesteryear. Remus shook his head, thinking that perhaps the man was a Death Eater during the First Wizarding War that reneged the dark path, like Severus.

Before Remus could say anything though, the old man took off his silver ring, which gleamed strangely. Remus saw with interest that it had two small emeralds as the eyes of a snake that was eating its own tail.

The old man grabbed Draco's left hand and put it around the ring; with his other hand he touched softly Draco's shoulder and muttered something inaudible, even for Remus' exquisite hearing.

Afterwards the old man and Draco disappeared in a bright flash.

This orb of majesty - 1/2