herumtreiber

Title: Reality twists 12/39
Chapter: The last player
Author:

herumtreiber
Genre: Post DH, romance, adventure, time travel
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: Angst.
Epilogue compliant? No
Chapter length: ~2,037 words
Summary: Harry/Draco/Daphne. Draco in Azkaban, plus time-travel. Explores the idea of powerful magic pitted against a nuclear bomb and the implications for the world. Noncon - evil Hermione and Ron – Atlantis may appear later on, and another meaning of the Prophecy. How a Time Turner can win a game. Very ecological use of the Fidelius charm; Dementors abound, but...

Table of contents

11. Renaissance

As he Apparated to a secure room in Malfoy Manor, Draco was very thankful for the resiliency of dragonhide clothes. If it hadn't been for them, the Sword would have sliced through him, and he would have died. The healing salves also helped a lot, stemming the loss of blood.

There was so much he had to do, but he hurt too much to do it right now. He needed help and succor. He needed… his mother. He asked the elf Finky to get his mother.

Presently Narcissa showed up. Seeing him, she curtailed the questions she wanted to ask and instead checked her son. She grabbed the Sword and put it on the table, marveling at its ornate design. It looked like the Sword of Gryffindor, but it couldn't be, could it? Because she had used it, and she surely was no Gryffindor. Asked point-blank, Draco replied that it was indeed the Sword of Gryffindork.

Narcissa gave him a Blood-replenishing potion, one for the pain, and one to sleep.

In the morning, Draco woke up feeling refreshed. He called for the elf Trini and demanded a hearty breakfast. As he sat, he looked at his spoils and pondered them: the Sword of Gryffindor, presumably tamed and with no Protection Charm behind it. The three wands, one of which was the Elder wand and held what no one suspected. It was time to bring home the last player.

Draco talked quietly with Trini. Later he got dressed and when he was finally ready, he rubbed his signet ring and said, "Lord Malfoy wishes to speak with Griphook about matters of mutual interest."

There was the sound of goblin Apparition and Griphook bowed slightly and asked, "How may we be of service?"

Draco replied, "Some time ago you performed a service for me. I pledged to help you in securing an object that had been unfairly denied to you. To redeem that pledge I now give you the Sword of Gryffindor, free of any enchantment that would whisk it away from you!"

Draco offered the Sword of Gryffindor with a flourish, presenting it so the grip could be easily held by Griphook.

Griphook was astonished and visibly shook before he recovered himself sufficiently to hold the Sword he'd almost given up. He said, "You have performed most incredibly, Lord Malfoy, both in securing the Sword and ensuring the continued existence, the renaissance, of our world. We are magical creatures and we suspected the end would come soon, until yesterday, when we felt a storm of new emotions, a welter of feelings and joy that can only mean one thing: the world goes on! We remain yours to command, Lord Malfoy."

Griphook bowed to Draco, took the Sword and Apparated away.

oOoOo

Draco wrote to Daphne:

Hello Green Eyes,

I'm happy to say I am amongst the living, thanks to wearing special clothes and using healing salves. They were the factors that allowed me to weather the storm of Potter's treacherous actions. As you can imagine, this caused the Charm to disarm. Finally we are free of that magical hairball so the world can go on its merry way.

Your comments keep running through my mind and I wish I could offer more encouraging news, but still I have no idea how to achieve that we have Scorpius. I just feel I'm at the edge of something and every little nudge will point me in the right direction.

I will remain in the Manor for a few days. I have to ready everything for the last player.

How is everyone reacting to the Gryffindorks? I have the feeling their golden eggshell will disappear.

Love, Draco

oOoOo

After his concerned housemates pulled him from the Slytherin table, everyone was confused about what had happened. Many thought that Malfoy had tried to hex Harry and after Harry defended himself, the hex rebounded and hit Malfoy, sending him Merlin knew where.

The people who witnessed and saw Potter attack Malfoy were afraid to tell the truth, so they let the lie pass uncontested. There was also the curious fact that everybody was acting erratically. They were excited, but they didn't know why. They were jubilant for no apparent reason.

After being nagged by Hermione, Harry finally could go to his room and fall asleep. He felt exhausted and strange. The next day he continued to feel that way. He sensed that people paid him less attention than usual, which would be OK for him, but the people that did notice him were markedly less effusive. It was as if he had been diminished in their eyes, or perhaps not diminished, but rather judged objectively for once. Not fawned upon, but someone to rely on.

He also felt considerably less aggressive. Thinking back about the confrontation with Malfoy, he had to admit that the Malfoys adopting Teddy was logical, in a no-nonsense pureblood way. He frankly doubted that the Malfoys would hurt Teddy, when he was practically a Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks would also live in the Manor. His stomach twisted, thinking of all the petty things that he had let dominate his life.

Contrary to Malfoy's assertions, Harry was not a complete dolt. He could see that there was some relation between this newfound state of non-aggressiveness and the ring that Neville gave him to wear. Harry would continue wearing that ring, because he had no desire to go back to the domineering state of mind.

Many times during the day, when he was going places, he'd stop and wait for … something to catch up to him. He had the feeling that if only he would wait long enough, that elusive thing would catch up with him and then he wouldn't feel so vulnerable.

In Harry's confused and suddenly altered inner landscape, one thing remained the same: the power of the attraction he felt for Draco Malfoy. Before, he'd told himself he would only use the blond and would not care for him. He'd wanted to break his will completely.

Now, he could appreciate many things about him: his good looks, sarcastic wit, above all his endurance in taking everything Harry could throw his way and living to fight the good fight another day.

He also began seeing Ron and Hermione in another, more sinister way: Ron cruelly taunting the Slytherins, offering up his own version of prejudice. Making it appear as if all Gryffindors were good just because they had been sorted there. Holding on to his family's grudges, even though he didn't know why they originated, or if they still existed at all. Forsaking Harry whenever the mood suited him, like during the Tri-Wizard tournament and while they were searching Horcruxes.

Ron behaved more like a fair-weather friend than a true one. And he permitted it. Why? Because of the power, and strategic reasons. The Boy Who Lived needed strong ties to the Light, and who better than his best friend's family, signal Light warriors? To Harry this thinking smacked like Dumbledore's reasons. He'd have to study it more carefully.

Hermione meanwhile, coached from the sidelines. She researched the spells and mastered them, ever the tireless organizer. Harry had to wonder if she shared all the spells she found, or if she kept some of them for herself. She would abide by the rules, and if that meant disowning the Slytherins, so much the better.

These were harrowing portraits, but what made it worse was the acute knowledge that he was no better. He had engaged in despicable acts, performed cruel tactics to get his way. He could hardly bear thinking about it. This day, he yearned for Atonement.

He found himself thinking about the bi-weekly sessions he had with the counselor, Mr. Rhodes. The first ones had been spent with Harry neatly dodging questions and sneering at the poor man. Harry acted as if he was afraid of introspection and what it could bring. Now he wished he'd built a better rapport with the man. He could use the help of a professional.

The Auror he met weekly was a failure, though. He apparently wanted to impress Harry so much that he would join the Aurors, notwithstanding his 10-year ban.

Harry looked around the Gryffindor common room and found many housemates busily doing their homework. In another strange development, the teachers seemed to have become immune to the Gryffindors' charms and asked them to perform well in classes, where before they didn't bother the Gryffindors at all. They had lost 80 points today, and only Neville's correctly answering a question about Herbology had saved them from the 100 points mark.

Talking about the devil, Neville approached Harry. He asked, "You OK, Harry? You seem to be a little bit out of it today."

Harry answered, "I'm fine, just a little rattled for lack of sleep."

Neville replied, "You might want to know that Draco is in Malfoy Manor. Narcissa sent an owl and explained he is going to be there for some days. Something about a lost friend or relative, I don't remember."

Harry asked Neville in a small voice, "Do you think he will give me back my wand? In the end he accio'd the three wands I carried, and I don't have one with me right now."

Neville answered, "Your wand? You had three wands? Why did you have so many?"

Harry mumbled, "My old wand, Draco's hawthorn wand and the Elder wand. He accio'd the three."

Neville asked, "But aren't you the Elder wand's Master?"

Harry answered, "Yes, I am. Still the wands answered to Draco, which I think makes him the new master. I just wish I had a wand now."

Neville commented, "Why did you still have Draco's hawthorn wand? Shouldn't you have given that to him at least?"

Harry blushed and looked at the windows. Of course he hadn't wanted to give the wand back to Draco. He wanted him to be fragile, dependent upon his well wishes, complacent to his moods. He wanted to own him and then utterly break him.

He didn't have to have a connection to Voldemort anymore, he was a little like the Dark Lord.

oOoOo

Draco observed the two Elder wands: one from Potter and the other he had yanked from Dumbledore's portrait. Without the glamour which made the other Elder wand look like birch, they both looked indistinguishable from each other.

They had the same magic, form, properties; yet they were not identical.

One of them, the one which was with Potter, held something unique. No one suspected what it concealed. If they had, they would have been dumbfounded and would have destroyed it.

Long before the confrontation in the Astronomy Tower, Draco had realized the existence of Horcruxes. Reading about them in a book he found very well hidden in the Malfoy library, Draco learned that to create them, three conditions must be met: a murder must occur, an object of both intrinsic value and beauty to the person in question must be on hand, and the caster of the ritual must be pure.

What is death that you are mindful of it? Especially when you hold the means of reversing it?

Draco called on Trini and received the two grim packages. He uncovered a big cauldron and started a fire under it.

He took the first package and opened it. He put the bone in the cauldron and said, "Bone of the father, unwillingly given."

He opened the second package and put the hand, still dripping blood, in the cauldron saying, "Meat of a putative ally, unwillingly given."

He took out a small dagger and made a cut on the palm of his right hand. He let the blood flow into the cauldron, intoning, "Blood of a friend, willingly given."

Finally, he took the original Elder wand and put it in the cauldron, saying, "Piece of a soul, unwillingly given but willingly received."

The ritual continued and presently a tall, thin and raven-haired figure appeared. Draco draped him in a black cloak.

He stood back and said, "Welcome back, friend."

The figure eyed him stonily and replied, "Good day, Draco."

13. Legilimens