herumtreiber

Title: Unusual ending - chapter 13 - part 1
Chapter: thirteen
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: 1867 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 Vow - part 2

Dobby nervously took off his woollen hats, staring wide-eyed at his former mistress, Narcissa Malfoy. He timidly approached her and peered up at the unmoving figure of his antagonist, Kreacher, cradled in the arms of Mrs. Malfoy. She had always treated Dobby fairly, unlike her dreadful husband – and she did not appear to share the evil, Potter-hurting ways of her son. Dobby shrugged and corrected himself - mentally ironing his fingers - her former evil son Draco.

Dobby opened his mouth to ask a question and at that precise moment Harry arrived. His hair sticking every which way, his clothes rumpled, Harry waved his wand menacingly at the house-elf, its tip glowing with the Lumos spell.

"Don't move, Dobby!" shouted Harry. Glancing at Narcissa and the inert shape of Kreacher, he added urgently, "Don't hurt Draco's mother!"

Apparently Dobby hurt poor Kreacher and Narcissa had intervened to defend the Black house-elf. But then Harry frowned, realising that Narcissa was in the castle. Why is she here? I might be wrong; she didn't appear out of thin air just to defend Kreacher. Perhaps Draco's in trouble and called her? thought Harry, worry creeping into his mind.

Harry looked sharply at Mrs. Malfoy, who was carrying a prostrate Kreacher in her arms, holding him tenderly. He vividly imagined Draco in trouble; after all, Kreacher seemed to be devoted to the Slytherin. House-elves were sturdy creatures, for Kreacher to be so weakened he must have fought something very powerful - and then Narcissa's presence fully clicked in. Just how in Merlin's name did she pass the wards? wondered Harry.

"Where's Draco, Mrs. Malfoy?" asked Harry tremulously.

Narcissa was tempted to lie to Harry, to tell him that everything was all right and he didn't have to worry. But looking into his concerned face, seeing his green eyes big and bright in the Lumos light, made her pause. His anguished voice indicated that Harry cared deeply for Draco, and her little Dragon had always been obsessed by the green-eyed Gryffindor; lately his letters spoke of little else but Harry. Narcissa recalled her son writing her about Harry chafing under the crushing safety cocoon arbitrarily imposed by the Order.

Narcissa glanced at the wall of the Room of Hidden Things, worried because Draco and the Weasleys had not appeared yet. I shouldn't have left Draco behind; my little Dragon's plans sometimes backfire on him, thought Narcissa guiltily.

With all these thoughts informing her mind, she made her decision. Narcissa willingly took the plunge and told Harry the truth.

"Draco is with the Dark Lord in his hideaway in Slytherin Castle," said Narcissa, depositing Kreacher gently on the floor.

"We managed to escape through the Vanishing Cabinet-" Narcissa pointed to the wall behind which was the Room of Hidden Things.

"-But Draco has not returned yet, nor the Weasley twins," added Narcissa, a frown marring her face.

Harry grimaced and yanked his hair, picturing Voldemort torturing Draco and the twins. He squared his shoulders and determinedly said, "I have to go and rescue them!"

"But the castle is under strong wards; we only got out through the Cabinet," replied Narcissa. Her exquisite face was twisted in anguish, and drops of sweat appeared on her alabaster forehead, as the seconds ticked by and she realised the predicament her precious son was in - trapped within Voldemort's lair, with no means of escape.

"And you can't go alone!" added Narcissa forcefully, tugging helplessly her velvet gloves.

At that moment a ghostly glow appeared in the corridor where they were standing, opposite the Room. Narcissa peered intently at the voluminous glow of the Fat Friar – a ghost she was fond of.

She approached the Hufflepuff ghost, intent on getting help for the Black elf and then returning to help Draco. She did not notice Harry bending down and whispering to Dobby. The small house-elf had listened to their hurried conversation with interest, shifting his feet on the floor and pulling on his sweater.

"Friar! Could you get Madame Pomfrey and tell her to come here and take care of poor Kreacher?" Narcissa pointed to the trashing house-elf. Although elves were magically strong, the amount of Crucios the old elf had received did not bode well for his health – and Narcissa wanted to take care of him. Spending all those years with only the portrait of her aunt Walburga; with the house empty and no one to take care of – the harshest fate for an elf – had not been precisely kind on the house-elf, and Kreacher deserved better.

"Will do that at once, jolly lass!" replied the Fat Friar and sunk, disappearing into the floor. Narcissa turned to look at Harry, still crouching down next to Dobby, and frowned when Harry looked at her guiltily.

Harry held a conversation with Dobby whilst Narcissa took care of Kreacher.

"Dobby, can you pass through Voldemort's wards and take me to Draco?" whispered Harry, his face next to Dobby's, almost touching his large ear with his glasses.

"Dobby can!" The elf thumped his chest proudly, but then his ears drooped. "But Dobby does not know where the evil-" Dobby gulped under Harry's stern gaze "-mmh… the good Malfoy boy is!"

Harry whispered urgently, "There must be some sort of connection! Draco was your master for many years!"

Frowning, Dobby stretched his hands and contemplated Harry's words for a moment. Then he looked up at Harry. "Master Harry is right! Dobby can take Harry Potter to him!"

Holding Harry's hand reverently, Dobby snapped his fingers and both of them disappeared, under the horrified gaze of Narcissa. She and the boys could hardly succeed against so many Death Eaters and Voldemort; but taking a determined step towards the Room of Hidden Things, Narcissa resolved to go back to the castle and fight to the death for her son, for he meant the world to her.

A second later Narcissa was nearly bowled over by something colliding against her. Regaining her equilibrium, she turned around and saw two sets of legs appearing on the floor – followed a moment later by the upper bodies of Harry's friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Hermione was holding her wand that emitted a bright glow which had been hidden by the Invisibility Cloak.

In the dungeons in Slytherin Castle, Draco and the Weasley twins moved closer as Nagini hissed furiously, coiling herself. Her jaws stretching to their limit, she was ready to either bite or crush the puny humans that dared deprive her of her richly deserved meal. Nagini lunged at the astounded wizards, her rapid motion belying her behemoth weight.

Draco barely had time to jump to the left, immediately followed by Fred, whilst George lunged to the right.

The snake, which expected to crush one of these boys, instead crashed into the Vanishing Cabinet. Wood splinters rained on the boys, and Draco realised with despair that the cabinet had been destroyed – their only means of escape. Nagini retreated slithering erratically - her eyes crossed due to the impact.

George groaned, holding his elbow gingerly. He cursed the fact that Bellatrix had taken their wands. Meanwhile, Draco lifted his wand and swished it frantically, casting two strong curses at the snake in quick succession. The spells hit Nagini on her reptilian hide just behind her head, but they seemed to be ineffective.

"Come on, Malfoy, do something!" Fred exclaimed, looking at Draco with distress. Sweat drops glistened on their faces as they looked at the snake with worried expressions. Nagini raised her head and moved fitfully, shaking her head from side to side – still recuperating from the impact.

"Can't – bloody snake is impervious to magic!" said Draco after casting another spell.

"Do something, ferret!" shouted George from the other side of the room. "The snake's recovering!"

Draco yelled, "I don't see you doing anything, gingerhead!"

George scowled, rummaging in the pocket of his pink robe. The twins had been doing inventory in their shop just before they went to the Burrow to enjoy one of Molly's customary lavish dinners – which had been brutally interrupted when they had to face the crazed Death Eaters to defend their home. George had pocketed some sweets which Fred complained didn't sell so well anymore; he'd promised Fred that they would improve this particular brand.

George smirked when he found what he wanted; just in time because Nagini had recovered completely from the impact caused by the cabinet. She turned and hissed ominously at George, and then she lunged at him. George rolled sideways, throwing a small sweet into her voracious maw. He scrabbled backwards until he was trapped against the damp stone walls of the dungeons.

Draco twisted on the floor, fingering the tear in his formerly pristine clothes. Bloody snake had to ruin my best robes, thought Draco grumpily.

Pointing his wand at the serpent, the Slytherin fired two successive cutting spells that finally appeared to work. The snake began to bleed from two cuts along her sinuous body.

Nonetheless, Nagini reared triumphantly as she slithered towards George. Draco and Fred, realising the predicament George was in, threw themselves on the serpent, but the enormous snake shook them off easily. Draco landed on his back next to the destroyed cabinet and Fred ended right next to Nagini.

Realising one of the troublesome boys was next to her, Nagini opened her jaws wide, preparing to bite Fred. But then she stopped suddenly as the treat she had ingested began to act. Nagini felt her forked tongue was growing rapidly. She coughed repeatedly, but it was all for nought, because her tongue grew until it was four feet long.

As Nagini shook her head and tried to breathe, forgetting temporarily the troublesome wizards, Fred stood up shakily and patted George's back. "Forge - great idea, using a Ton-Tongue Toffee. You take after me!"

George thumped Fred's back, glaring at his twin. "Sure, Gred. And you said we had to improve them!"

Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed Fred's robe. "Come on. Let's go before the snake recovers!"

George touched the sleeve of his pink robe. "Where do you get your spells, Malfoy? Umbridge? They don't seem to work."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Draco replied, "The snake seems to be magically protected."

Draco kicked Nagini as the trio made their way past the struggling serpent, which was twisting and trashing her tail, trying to breathe. She wanted to hiss menacingly at them but her enormous tongue made it impossible. The wizards walked past the remains of the door and made their way to the corridor.

In the room, Nagini thrashed and when she felt her tongue shrinking rapidly back to its normal size, the serpent slithered towards the boys.

Fred tugged Draco's robe. "How will we get out of here, Malfoy?"

"We'll just have to chance it, like Harry does," replied Draco, a grimace marring his face, which was sweaty and dusty from all the rolling around trying to evade the inexorable serpent.

When they were near the stairs Nagini, her tongue finally back to its normal size, lunged after them. Striking like an arrow, she coiled herself around Draco's legs before the boys had time to react.

Slithering & Struggling - part 2