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Vera It was impossible that this entrance point had been left open. Ron stumbled out into the abounded camp, over the scorched and forgotten plain. It must have been opened by the rogue Malfoy. He let his feet find their way, all too familiar with the territory he now occupied. It had ended here, the battle between Dark and Light. Just as he predicted, yards away, Draco was on his knees, blindfolded and gagged. Holding the knife to his throat was a man who could have been his twin, but for the shape of his eyes and the sharpness of his features. "So you see me as I am, Ronald Weasley." The man sneered, warping fair features into a tangle of rage, a mask of hate. "Darius Malfoy, at your service." "Let him go." He tried to sound reasonable. "He's innocent." "I know. And my brother." He pulled tightly long blond hair, provoking a muffled wail from his prone kin. "Won't it be a shame when his pretty face is as scarred and ugly as his lover's?" "Leave him out of this. You've got me here." "Ego much? Of course I want to kill you, but I wouldn't mind taking him and your traitor bitch with me. I've nothing left to lose you see. You killed my father, the only person in the world who cared about me." "Your father would have done the same to me. He gave your brother to the Dark Lord as a play thing for fuck's sake!" "Liar! Draco chose Voldemort over Father! He ran to him! It broke his heart. " Darius growled. "Draco betrayed us." "He was three years old and Lucius offered him to the Dark Lord as a guinea pig!" "Will you stop at nothing?" Darius shook his head. "Draco dies here tonight. You I will keep alive to watch him and Snape perish. Then your family, member by member." "With what? You seem to have your hands full." "Well that's taken care of easily enough." He sliced the knife forward, nicking into his brother's skin. Before he knew what was happening, he was on the ground staring up at red-faced fury. The knife was cast from him. "You'll have to do better then that." Ron growled. "Accio sword!" Ron curled and ducked in time to miss the steel that hurtled through the air. Darius grasped it from the air. "Avengus!" Ron called and a terrible ripping sound split his clothing and flesh as his tattooed sword emerged as real steel, deadly sharp. "I want your blood." "Then try and take it." Once Ron had thought he was unrivaled with a blade. Once, he had thought he'd seen his last battle. They dueled over Draco's prone body, circling each other in the deadliest dance. Metal clanged, blood welled to the surface on both, a series of cuts and nicks. "Darius!" The mad blond turned reflexively. Ron cut down , severing two fingers. Darius screamed in agony, dropping his sword to the ground. In moments, Ron had him bound in the very ropes that had restrained Draco. His friend wept quietly where he lay, seemingly unable to rise. "Father..." Whimpered Darius. Ron turned to see his savior, who indeed wore the face of Lucius Malfoy. He walked with aristocratic baring he lost only in death, approaching slowly to crouch by Darius' side. He laid a hand on the boy's cheek. "My good child." "I failed..." "No! No, not you my good son. My perfect, precious boy." Ron watched dumbfounded as this perfect imitator hug his child close, stroking his hair and smoothing circles into his back. "But he killed you..." "Yes." And here Lucius gazed at Ron with familiarity....and respect. "He bested me and won from me a great prize that I did not intend to give." "You stopped my revenge." "It's beneath you." He pulled out of the hug, to stare into his boy's eyes. "There are things other then revenge that should concern you now. You were breed with purpose, my precious child. Would you really risk that to avenge me on a retired, beaten soldier?" "I..." "Shh..shh...I've waited for you to come here for a long time, my boy. You've met your brother, I see." He nodded to where Draco was staring at him wide-eyed and sweating. "He's not what our Lord wanted and he has paid for that with his mind." "I only wanted..." "I know, I know." Sharp gray eyes landed on Ron. "Put the weapon aside, boy. There is no use for it here." "I killed you once..." "And it worked. I'm dead. Familial ghosts. Your weapon is worthless." He rose with all the deadly elegance Ron remembered in him, drawing Darius up. The boy's bonds untied themselves, falling to the ground. "Go son. Gather those who remain and go. They are waiting for you. Wait there for this generation to die, let the wizarding world to forget and when they're indolent and lazy again, you will strike with spirit that lingers within you." Lucius faded as if he had never been. Darius turned, casting his glance first down at his brother then up again at Ron. His eyes glowed a familiar, bone chilling red and severed fingers bled black clotted blood. "I think you can live now." The smile was genuine and for that, all the more chilling. "You know that me and mine will go, become strong and tear down what you worked for so hard to achieve. Live with that." They stood and Ron saw his window of attack. He could charge forward now, in Darius' moment of boastful pride, but the power he radiated was wicked and more then his match. He could go forth now and take Darius down to their mutual death. Instead, he stood, eyes open, mind painfully clear and undivided. He let him apperate away. Ron slumped to his knees, laying gentle hands on Draco to undo the last of the other man's bonds. The young blond began to shake, his body wracked with fear. Severus found them mere minutes later. It was easy to tell him everything that had come to pass, the shock to great for him to feel any of it. Stony faced, Severus gathered his adopted son to him and told the errant red head in terse words to apperate with him back to Hogwarts. They walked in silence back to the castle, Ron shook from some source less cold. As soon as they reached their apartments, Percy burst forth, his head already healed, leaving only the thinnest of scars. Draco jumped from Severus' arms and into his boyfriend's burying himself in the warm embrace. Percy dropped grateful kisses on the blond head, holding him tighter then was strictly healthy. He asked no questions, shot no looks, only nuzzled into the whole, unharmed body. Severus brushed passed them into the bedroom, Ron followed, dread pitting in his stomach. "I'll pack my things." He whispered, taking one look at the harsh lines of the other man's face. "What?" "You're furious. You should be. I'd be furious at me." He slumped on to the bed, laying his face in his hands. "Ran off without a clue to where I was going, following a homicidal maniac...and then losing him to a fucking ghost." "I'm...well, I am angry. But not at you." The bed dipped as Severus settled himself next to the other man. "Myself for not believing in you. At Potter for forcing our hand. If that article hadn't come out and he hadn't shown up, I don't think Darius would have struck so quickly. You shouldn't have gone without me...." "I've led too many people to their deaths." Ron raised his head, traces of silvery tears glittering unshed in his eyes. "I couldn't watch...not again..." "Blaise..." "Died in my arms. My hands are coated in the blood of people I love...how could I knowingly ask for another. Lucius' death was on *my* head. Darius wanted me." He shook his head. "I don't...I couldn't..." The last grips of numbing shock lost their grip and he began to sob. "It's all for nothing...friends dead and gone to dust for nothing, but to have it all wiped away by the second coming...." "You forget that you have a direct link to the government. Potter is into penance. He'll do whatever you ask." "Fuck..." Ron wiped his hands harshly over his eyes. "He is my General...I can't forget that, Severus. I can't. I look at him...and I will follow any order he snaps at me. I never thought...We fought together. He swore he'd protect me. And he failed....I failed because he failed me.... I can't...fuck." "Ron." Thin fingers found his chin and turned his face towards him. "You did what you had to. You didn't kill Darius because some part of you knows that we will find him and his army long before he makes good on his promise. There are not that many places they could hide and he's mad enough to betray himself. Potter and you... there will be a time for you two to figure things out, but it's not now. You're tired, you've only recently gotten out of a hospital bed, done battle and bled all over your robes." "I hate failing." He snorted. "I hate that there's still someone out there who I have to do battle with all over again." "Who said it had to be you?" Severus shook his head. "Come here." Ron allowed himself to led into the bathroom where Severus cleaned out his wounds with a treated cloth. "Doesn't it have to be..." "You're a teacher. Welcome to your retirement." He dabbed at a small cut on one calloused hands. "Your specialty is charms. If you have to be involved, do it through your research." "But..." Severus pried opened clutching fingers to reveal another sluggishly bleeding gash. "You don't want to see me in danger, fine. It works both ways." Black eyes trained into warm brown. "You've paid whatever you think you owe. You're mine now." "Am I then?" For the first time in many hours, Ron allowed a trace of a smile. "Both ways on that too?" "Yes." Slowly, Ron leaned forward and brushed a warm salty kiss over thin lips. "Good." He lay his head on one bony shoulder. "That's very good." "Do you want to go back inside?" Percy whispered into his boyfriend's ear. "No...no. " He raised his head, gray eyes clear of tears and fear. "I watched him disappear, Perce. He's dead. Voldemort...he may live on in Darius. And now, I can have my own revenge. " "You're handling this remarkably well." "He didn't really hurt me." Draco shook his head. He leaned his forehead against his boyfriend's chin. "Can we talk about it tomorrow?" "Of course. Do you want to go to sleep?" "No. And before you ask, no chess... I want.." He smirked. "I would like you to show me what it is that boyfriends do when they're fathers aren't keeping a good enough eye on them." "Are you sure? It's been a long day..." "Exactly." Long blond hair worked like a hand caressing his cheek as Draco turned into the set of rooms he called home. Ron and Severus were nowhere in sight. The bedroom they had begun to share in sleep greeted them with perfumed darkness. Potions man to the core, Draco reveled in smells and delighted over every foreign fragrant herb that Percy brought to him. Many he acquired from his time in China, others he discovered as he worked through thick medical texts in preparation for his upcoming exams. They hung from the ceiling, intermingling pleasantly. In the subtle shadows, Draco shed his outer robes, leaving only the loosest slacks and a tight under shirt. They had lain next to each other in less, but it seemed in that moment that Percy was watching a sacred unveiling. Hurriedly, he began to shuck off his own layers, not wishing to be left behind. Down to his pants when gentle hands landed on his bringing them to the warm skin of his sides. "I'm afraid." He admitted into the darkness. Soft lips brushed over his collarbone. "So am I." Was the answering mummer. "But I don't think we have to be." They moved together like crashing waves, soft sounds passing between them. When they fell naked onto the stripped bed, learning each other's bodies, it seemed as if it had always been this way between them. Draco trembled and made soft keening noises while Percy groaned from a depth he had never known before. There was no end to Percy's patience as worshiped at the alter of his own alabaster god, lavishing attention on the sensitive points of his hips, the ticklish crease below his belly and his fine pulsing cock. When Draco came, arching into his lover's mouth, he saw the world open up before him, ripe with possibility. "Ohhh.." He sighed softly, riding out the last involuntary shiver as Percy crept back up his body. "That was a amazing." "Thank you." They kissed chastely, Percy's fingers weaving intricate patterns on his lover's pale skin. Hesitantly, Draco twisted to reach down to return the favor. He bit down on his lip, startled by the firm length that filled his grip. It was unsettlingly familiar. "You needn't..." "Hush." He kissed at the cruel scar, pushing at his fears. This was Percy. He trusted him with his life and his body. Nothing was going to happen if he let his fingers dance on what was, after all, just another bit of flesh. Having been celibate for longer then he cared to think about, Percy came relatively speedily, filling Draco's hand with sticky warmth. The blond wrinkled his nose fastidiously, then endearingly stuck out the tip of a pink tongue to taste it. He grimaced and wiped the rest of it off on a discarded t-shirt, accompanied by Percy's gales of laughter. "You're a wonder." He informed his lover. "I liked that." Draco told him, settling sleepily into his side. "Can we do it again?" "As often as you like." Percy did everything he could to suppress his grin, but in the end, he fell asleep smiling. The classroom finally emptied as Ron sagged into his chair and laid his head in his arms. The world had been moving far too quickly of late, a whirl of color and noise that he couldn't stop. In the stresses of the day, he let his mind wander down four flights of stairs, past the darkened stone and into the close space he shared with the disgruntled potions professor. It wasn't a new strategy for him. In the war, it had been to a quiet tent where Blaise was always waiting, but that had been far more unsure. A tentative image where as his nights with Severus were strong and fresh in his mind. Most of all, he treasured the soothing moments before sleep when Severus would lay a cool hand on his cheek and they were an island of calm and warmth. "Ron?" "Draco?" It was impossible, but there he was, standing as tall and proud as he would among his native stone. Lately, he had grown more and more daring, but never before had he climbed all the way to Ron's teaching chambers with no one to accompany him. "Teach me to fight." Grey eyes blazed in challenge. "With a Charged Weapon." "What? Why?" "Darius is mine." The fine blade of vengeance tinged his tone and Ron could feel the bile rise up in his stomach. " I know what he means to do, taking up Voldemort's form and I won't let that happen." "I won't teach you the way of war. I've lost too many on that way already." He thought he sounded firm. "If you do not teach me, then I will find someone else." Could he? Would he? Draco talk to a stranger? But this was not the child with a soft touch who had first spoken to him in whispers. This was a blazing powerhouse. This was a Malfoy. "And they will not be nearly as good." "Your father..." "Papa will learn to live with it and he will not blame you for teaching me." Gray eyes narrowed. "You will teach me?" "It's no easy thing to kill." "It's no easy thing to be tortured. I've waited nearly two decades for that chance. If Percy could not talk me out of it, then you certainly cannot." Ron stood abruptly, evening their stance until they were locked in a battle of wills. Images of Draco washed over him and he realized that the Sight had come over him without his consciously wishing it. They were images filled with fear and hate, but they were tempered with understanding. Darius would die if that were what was necessary to rid the world of the man who had taught him a meaning of pain that Ron with all his scars could not begin to comprehend. Another causality. Ron let his shoulders slump in defeat and cursed himself for ever thinking of Draco as an innocent bystander. "We will begin tomorrow. At dawn. First, you'll need to get into shape. Weaponry will be hard to come by, but I think I can get around the new Ministry prohibitions." He shook his head. "I don't want this." "I'm sorry." And it was genuine. Draco smiled at him, gently. "But this is what I have to do. And this is the best way to do it." I am the best. Ron remembered resignedly. The blood on my hands proves that. That night when he confessed to Severus all that had happened, the other man was quiet for a long time. In the end, he pulled his lover close and tucked the red resigned head beneath his chin. "You're not a killer. You fought for what you thought was right." "And I was good at it." He sighed, but didn't pull away. "He's going to do this. Go after Darius himself, sword in hand and I'll be the one that trained him." "If he is so determined then let him go." The ache was there, but shoved to the side. "You told me that. He's a grown man, capable of making his own decisions from whom he wishes to sleep with, to the way he seeks revenge." For a long time, Ron was silent, playing with the ends of greasy black hair, pressing soft kisses into Severus' neck. "Why isn't it over?" He asked finally. "Why is there still so much pain and blood?" "War leaves a wound that does not heal over night. Give it time." Ron made love that night like a man possessed, begging to be fucked harder and harder until they both went careening over the edge in reluctant exhaustion. Still, he lay awake long after Severus drifted away. His heart beat like a drum and the days of battle were close to the surface. Slowly, gently, he traced patterns into Severus' slumbering body, reminding himself of all that was good and right with the world. Carefully, he went over his lesson plans for the next day, pushing down the taste of dust. He fell asleep reciting students' names that still eluded him, the sounds of dying screams fading to black. next part last part << |