Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*

Harry stared at Hermione for a second, his mouth hanging open. Ron was speechless as well, staring at the locket that sat so innocently on the table in front of them.

"You-- you what?" Harry finally asked.

"I think I figured out a way," Hermione breathed.

They all turned to stare at the golden locket for a few more minutes. A feeling of undeniable hope flared up inside Harry. They had found a Horcrux and Hermione may have figured out how to destroy it. If they destroyed this Horcrux, there would only be four more left, including the bit of Voldemort's soul inside himself.

"Well?" he asked anxiously. "How?"

"Okay, well, I was thinking how it has to be done like you would kill a real person. I think V-Voldemort--oh, shut up, Ron-- wouldn't have thought about people wanting to destroy them. The diary was destroyed by poison. Poison can kill anyone. I think our best bet is to treat the locket like it's a mortal person."

"And?" Harry asked eagerly. He was very interested to know what she had come up with.

"Every mortal person has a weakness, right?"

"Yeah."

"What is the locket's weakness?" she asked them. Harry and Ron glanced at each other. They had no idea. How can a locket have a weakness?

"... I don't know..." Harry said slowly. He hated when Hermione thought they were smarter than they actually were. Sometimes, they just weren't.

Hermione sighed. "Don't you see? The locket is made out of metal, probably gold. Gold is one of the softest metals, easily pliable, but that's not it. Just the fact that this is a locket says everything you need to know."

Harry and Ron looked at her blankly. They had no idea what she was getting at.

"Why don't you just tell us, Hermione," Ron said finally.

Hermione just ignored him. "What do you do with lockets?"

"Put pictures in them?" Harry said, unsure.

"Exactly," Hermione said, her eyes glittering as he finally caught on a bit. "And how do you put the pictures in?"

"Well, you open it, but that's the whole point!" Harry exclaimed.

"And when you shut it?"

"It latches closed, what?"

"Harry," Hermione sighed. "Look at the locket. What do you see?"

Harry reached for the locket and picked it up. It felt heavy in his hand as he looked at it closely. The ornate S curled around the back of the locket. The front of the locket was a plain, glittering gold. In between the two sides was a tiny crack where it should have been able to opened.

"The crack?" he asked carefully, looking closely at it. It was a tiny crack, barely visible but Harry knew if it was a normal locket, it would have been able to be pried open.

"Yes," Hermione said, happy that he finally understood. "That is its weakness. It can be penetrated at that one, tiny point."

"But what are you going to put in there? It's not like you could stab it or something," Harry said sarcastically.

"Of course not," Hermione said, waving away his suggestion. "There's only one way to compromise this locket."

"And that would be?" Ron asked, tired of her riddling. He just wanted to know how to destroy it.

"Well, I was thinking about what we could put in the locket that might kill a human. I also thought about the leading cause of death in Muggles. The number one worldwide is infections which got me thinking about diseases and parasites. Have you ever heard of the Ebola virus?"

Ron shook his head no, but Harry paused. He vaguely recalled something on the news years ago about some new virus or bug.

"What does it do?" he asked.

"It's basically a virus that, once it gets inside your body, turns your intestines to mush and you die," she explained.

"Eww," Ron said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"But, Hermione," Harry said carefully. "Isn't that not very safe? What if it gets out?"

"I've thought about that, too, Harry," she told him. "And I think I figured out a way to do it."

She waved her wand and a sealed, clear, glass jar appeared in the middle of the table. It looked like there was nothing inside it to Harry. He looked closer, wondering if there was anything inside. Ron was looking extremely confused.

"Is there anything in there?" Harry asked.

"Yes, the Ebola virus," Hermione said simply and Harry jerked back.

"Hermione! That disease is unsafe! It could kill us all!"

Ron understood that at least and pushed his chair as far away from the table as it would go. Hermione remained where she was, rolling her eyes at the two of them.

"Harry, it's perfectly safe. It's sealed with a Permanent Sticking Charm, and the glass has an Unbreakable Charm on it as well."

Harry didn't look convinced as Hermione reached over for the locket. Ron inched back towards the table, interested, despite the presence of the disease, to see what Hermione was going to do.

She waved her wand in a little circle over the locket and it vanished in a small pop then reappeared seconds later inside the empty jar. They all scooted their chairs forward to watch the locket that sat in the middle of the jar.

Nothing happened for a few moments and then they heard a small sizzling sound coming from inside the jar. The locket had begun to rattle, throwing itself around as the unseen virus crept into the tiny crack.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched in awe as the locket shuddered violently as the virus ate its insides. The locket quivered the longer it remained in the sealed jar. Harry was extremely glad he was not in the jar.

The locket finally slowed in its movement and, without warning, it burst apart and the gold melted into a puddle at the bottom of the jar. From the puddle, a miniscule shadow of a skull floated upwards then vanished into thin air.

"Do you think it worked?" Ron asked in a hushed voice.

"I think so," Harry breathed, moving his head closer to look at the puddle of gold sitting at the bottom of the jar. Hermione also moved forward, looking at the insides of the jar.

"I-I think it did," she said in an awed voice. "Wow..."

"That was so cool," Ron breathed.

Harry sighed. "You know this was the easy one, right?" Ron and Hermione looked at him, confused expressions on their faces. "We didn't have to get this one out of Voldemort's traps. Someone already did it for us, luckily. Next time, it won't be so easy. We'll have to go through all his traps he's set and find the Horcrux. It's not going to be fun."

"We know," Hermione said softly, reaching over and placing a hand on Harry's arm.

"I think I'm going to go lay down," Harry said. "You're gonna get rid of that, right?" He indicated the jar with the melted Horcrux inside.

Hermione immediately waved her wand and the jar vanished. Harry looked at her closely. "Where did it go?"

"Into a volcano far far away," she said with a pacifying smile. He gave her a half-smile then turned and left the kitchen. Ron and Hermione stared after him then shared a glance but neither said anything.

***

It was pitch black as Harry lay awake in his four poster bed. He should have been sleeping. The next day he had another of his eternal detentions with Snape. Harry dreaded going to them. Each time was a horrid reminder of what he had done to the boy he could now not stop thinking of.

He gave a small sigh as he stared up at the canopy of his bed. He didn't notice when a door creaked open somewhere beyond his curtains. He was concentrating on falling asleep but it wasn't working very well.

He turned his head sharply as his curtains were drawn back.

"Who--?" he started to ask but a hand covered his mouth almost immediately.

"Shh." A soothing voice came out of the darkness in front of him. He felt someone crawl on top of his lower body, straddling his hips. A few whispered spells were sent around the perimeter of the bed.

"Draco," Harry whispered, "you shouldn't be here; you're going to get caught."

"But, Harry," Draco whispered in a seductive voice, "I've missed you."

Harry couldn't deny the effect those words had on his body. He groaned softly as Draco kissed his neck lightly and rubbed his growing erection against Harry's hip. He couldn't see Draco through the darkness, only his outline that was before him.

Draco came to him like this sometimes, in the dead of night when everyone else was asleep. Harry tried to discourage it, worried for both of their safety. If anyone found out, there would be hell to pay.

Draco shifted against Harry, his now hard erection pressing into Harry's. He moved against Harry torturously, slowly rolling his hips into the raven-haired boy's stiffening member.

"Fuck, Draco," Harry breathed then gasped slightly. His hands came up to the blond boy's sides to find that he was wearing no shirt. Harry's hands roamed over the smooth skin of Draco's torso, his calloused fingers running over Draco's back.

Draco gave a low hiss as Harry's hands moved swiftly over his shoulders and lower back. He leaned down and nipped at Harry's neck, flicking his hot tongue over the spot. He heard Harry give a quiet moan, but Draco wanted more.

He didn't spend much time on the tanned skin of Harry's neck. Instead, he pulled away, ignoring the noise of loss Harry gave. He crashed his lips down on Harry's, pulling him into a hard, passionate kiss. Harry's whimper was lost in Draco’s hot mouth. He pushed his tongue into Harry's mouth, taking the dominant position that night.

Harry groaned as Draco's tongue swirled all around the hot caverns of his mouth, tasting all of him. Draco pulled Harry's lower lip into his mouth, sucking on the plump flesh. Teeth clashed and hot tongue melted together as the kiss grew in fervor.

Without warning, though, Draco pulled out of the kiss and flipped Harry over onto his back. Harry was already shirtless since he rarely wore a shirt to bed. Draco pressed kisses to the back of Harry's neck, scraping his teeth over his spine, sending shivers all down Harry's back.

Harry could feel Draco's throbbing erection rubbing against the cleft of his ass and it made him, if possible, even harder. His erection pressed down onto his mattress as Draco continued his exploration of Harry's back.

He bit down on Harry's shoulder blade, earning him a hiss of pain and a gasp of pleasure. Draco smoothed over the spot with his tongue, admiring the tiny red marks his teeth had made on the tan flesh. He kissed down Harry's spine, licking and nibbling, earning whimpers of pleasure from his boyfriend.

Harry gave a low moan as Draco came to his lower back, his hot tongue sliding over the smooth skin there. Draco sucked hard on the skin, making a red mark on the otherwise perfect skin of Harry's back.

He slid his hands under Harry's boxers, the only thing he wore to bed, and over the smooth skin of his ass. Harry groaned into the pillow as Draco squeezed them lightly then ran his hands back up. They grazed up Harry's sides and up to grasp Harry's hands. Draco's body slid up as well and he planted a kiss on Harry's neck.

He let go of one of Harry’s hand, and, with it, pushed down Harry's boxers, exposing his perfect ass. Draco had to bite his lip not to groan at the sight. He pushed his excruciatingly hard cock against Harry's ass, loving how Harry pushed his body back wantonly.

"Fuck, Draco, I need--I need--" Harry gasped, turning his head from the pillow.

"Need what?" Draco whispered, moving in and giving Harry a light kiss.

"I need you," Harry finished, his breath coming in short gasps. Beneath his body, his rock hard cock desperately needed attention.

Draco smirked down at him, a feeling of satisfaction traveling through his body at Harry's words. He pulled away for a moment to remove his own pants and throw them to the side of the bed. He moved back, rubbing his leaking erection against the crack of Harry's ass, his slick pre-cum sliding between their bodies.

Harry moaned softly, pushing his body back onto Draco's cock. His own erection was now excruciatingly painful. He desperately needed release but couldn't get any in his current position.

Draco reached over for his wand and preformed a basic lubrication and protection spell. He slid a finger into Harry's opening, stretching the hot hole. He added a second, slick finger, pressing into Harry's body, plunging them in and out. Harry's moan was lost in the pillow as Draco removed the fingers, only to replace them with his aching member.

Harry gasped as he felt the intrusion of a much larger object, pushing through his tight muscles and into his body. Draco gritted his teeth as his cock was engulfed by Harry's tight, hot muscles, gripping it tightly as he slid further into Harry's body.

Draco's hands came to Harry's hips, his nails digging into the soft skin there. He slid his member out of its hot confinement only to slam back in, ripping a cry from Harry's throat as a wave of heat crashed over his body.

Harry’s breath caught in his throat as Draco thrust into his body at an alarming rate. He could feel his climax coming on quickly as Draco's thrusts deepened.

"Oh, shit!" Harry exclaimed, rocking his body back against Draco's.

Draco changed the angle and pushed his cock harder into Harry's body. The tight cocoon of muscles slid over Draco's cock, squeezing around it excruciatingly. Draco pulled out and slammed back into Harry's willing body, dragging Harry's hips up to meet his own.

Harry's strangled moan was lost when Draco came suddenly, shooting his load deep inside Harry, a fire spreading over his body as he continued to thrust recklessly into Harry until he was all but spent.

The sound of Draco coming was too much for Harry and he lost it as well without ever being touched. His release was muffled by the pillow as his body convulsed in pleasure, white hot cum covering the bed underneath him.

He didn't care about the uncomfortable stickiness as he lay there, trying to regain his breath. He felt Draco slide his spent cock from his body and collapse on the bed next to him. They said nothing for awhile until Harry felt Draco shift, and he rolled over.

Draco ran a hand over Harry's chest comfortingly, sighing deeply. He nuzzled into Harry's neck. "Fuck, Harry, if it's always like this, I'll sneak in more often."

Harry couldn't help smiling as Draco pressed a kiss to his neck. He slid an arm around Draco's shoulders and pulled him closer, reveling in the feel of his warm body pressed against his. This was his favorite time, not the sex, but afterwards. Afterwards, it was like they were the only two people in the world. They were safe from everything. Time stopped.

He heard Draco sigh contentedly and Harry closed his eyes, falling into a blissful sleep.

Harry jerked awake. He lifted a hand and felt around on the bed beside him. He sat up, looking around him, realizing that he was still in Grimmauld Place. Beside him on the bed was just the book he'd been reading earlier. He stared down at it, a tugging sadness coming over him. He blinked back tears and turned over in the bed, hugging the covers tighter around himself, wishing that it was Draco keeping him warm instead.


~~**~~

A/N: Oh, the angst. So... I know I've asked before but this fic has an extremely low amount of reviews, so what is it that makes this one so different? I know it's not my usual style but, I always thought change was good, lol. So please review?