The Iridescent Conclusion

Chapter Nineteen



Understanding from Sirius that it would be less stressful for Nik to receive one visitor at a time, Harry volunteered to go along the following morning.



After sleeping most of the previous day and then sitting up half the night reacquainting himself with Draco as his reinstated lover, Harry half-stumbled, yawning and bleary-eyed towards the Slytherin dungeons with Sirius at his side.



“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Sirius asked him with a wry smile, as he looked sideways at him.



“I’m sure,” Harry replied and then paused to allow a group of men pass. They looked to Harry to be too old for Hogwarts but as they were wearing school robes…



“Senior cadets,” Sirius supplied, answering his unspoken question and glancing back at the departing group as he and Harry continued on their way.



“Cadets?” Harry queried, “Not students?”



“No,” Sirius shook his head, looking puzzled. A moment later though and his expression cleared. “Oh, of course. In your world, Hogwarts is still a school. Merlin, how old are the students when they start?”



“First years are eleven,” Harry replied, recalling his own first day at the school. It seemed to be an entire lifetime ago. And Hogwarts here, he thought as he looked around, seemed to be just the same.



“So young!” Sirius shook his head in wonder, “But, yeah, of course! I mean, we were eleven when we started but it’s been years since Hogwarts was used as a school. With You-Know-Who such a dominant force, it just hasn’t been safe for children to attend school. Most people choose to teach at home and then, when they reach sixteen, they either come to us here or they go to the Ministry and complete their education with on-the-job training.”



“So what sort of training do you do here?”



“Oh, you know. Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dark Arts itself, Physical Wandless Combat, Advanced Legilimency, Advanced Occlumency and -” he halted suddenly, realising that Harry was staring at him. “What?”



“Nothing.” Harry offered a weak smile, “They’re just very…”



“Battle orientated?” Sirius smiled. “Yeah, they are. But then that’s what we’re here for. The cadets come to us to learn how to stay alive in combat situations before joining the Wizarding Army.” He paused then and smirked as he looked at Harry’s expression, “I take it you don’t have a Wizarding Army in your world, either?”



Harry shook his head, wondering just what Sirius would make of his world with its relative peace. He then found himself wondering how long it would be before his world would resemble Sirius’.



‘Let’s hope that it never comes to that,’ Severus murmured along the telepathic link.



‘You’re talking to me again then,’ Harry noted as Sirius led him down another flight of steps.



‘Obviously.’ Came the enigmatic response.



‘What are you doing?’ Harry asked, unable to guess from the mingled senses he was receiving.



‘I’m taking Draco down to the library to research the various aspects of the Nameless Community.’



‘Deep, deep joy,’ Draco added dryly.



Harry snorted and then flushed when Sirius looked quizzically at him. “I hear voices,” he explained, tapping his head.



“Are they okay?” Sirius asked with a concerned frown.



They were finally descending the stairs down into the dungeons and ahead of them, Dumbledore was waiting patiently outside a closed door.



“They’re fine,” Harry replied and then gestured towards the door and the dungeon as a whole. “Nik doesn’t mind being kept down here?”



“Nik used to be our Potions professor,” Dumbledore responded, smiling as they drew nearer. “He requested that he be kept down here – even though he can no longer teach.”



The idea of someone else teaching Potions was very shocking, for some reason, and Harry almost shivered before stepping forward to shake the Headmaster’s extended hand.



“I must ask you to be quiet and calm in Nik’s presence, Harry – whatever he might say to you.” Dumbledore said solemnly. “He isn’t a well man and little things upset him sometimes. I wouldn’t ordinarily allow visitors but I suspect that he will very much want to meet someone of the Nameless Community – even if it isn’t his Community.”



Harry nodded, not sure quite what to expect, and straightened his shoulders as the Headmaster opened the door and gestured for him to go in ahead of him.



*~*~*



‘You know, something tells me we’re not going to find The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) in here,’ Draco commented after just a couple of minutes in the heavy silence of the library.



‘Indeed,’ Snape replied silently as he perused a shelf full of leather bound books. ‘I doubt if you would find any book suitable for a first year student. All of these are extremely advanced.’ He indicated a large, dark blue book, written by the notorious Grindelwald.



‘I didn’t know he’d written a book,’ Draco responded reaching out to touch the binding. Severus caught his hand before he got within four inches of it, however.



“These are his personal memoirs – diaries, if you will,” he whispered, “and I would strongly discourage you from even touching the spines."



‘Cursed?’ Draco queried, looking from the books to his guardian’s face with wide eyes.



‘Without doubt.’



Ahead of them, they could hear the gentle susurration of pages being turned in quiet study and the occasional sound of footsteps on the wooden flooring. Instead of heading towards these sounds, however, Snape led the way down an aisle to the left and gestured at several shelves, filled with books of all shapes and sizes.



‘This is what we want,’ he noted and then glanced at Draco. ‘See if you can find some information about the original members of the community. You’ll probably need to start with that one,’ he pointed to a very large, thick tome with a cracked leather cover and fading title.



Peering at it, Draco read, ‘A Family Of Anonymity: The Nameless Community Census’. He looked then at Snape and curled his lip in derision, ‘How exciting,’



Severus sighed and glowered at him, ‘Just get on with it, Draco. The sooner we find the information we need, the sooner we can get out of here.’ And then, making a conscious effort to block Harry from his thoughts, he whispered softly, “I have a bad feeling about the Headmaster of this institution.”



At this, Draco gave him a sharp look, followed his lead to exclude Harry and asked, ‘You don’t trust him?’



Severus shook his head, ‘It seems to me that Harry could be just what this world is looking for and I have no intention of letting him fight this war as well as our own. So, while you’re researching the community, I’ll see what I can find about these rings.’



*~*~*



Judging Nik by his appearance, his greying hair, tired skin and frail body, Harry initially thought that he was quite an old man. However, the blue eyes belied the man’s appearance; these were the eyes of a much younger man. It was perhaps this that left Harry feeling uncomfortable in Nik’s presence and he was glad of Sirius’ company.



Upon first entering the man’s rooms, down here in the dungeons, Harry had been pleased to note that Nik wasn’t residing in a padded cell; nor was he chained to the wall like a lunatic in some Victorian asylum. Instead, his rooms were warm and friendly with some nice furniture and paintings on the walls. There were, however, no people in the paintings – just land and seascapes. It was later explained to Harry that even the portraits distressed Nik at the height of his depression.



For the most part, Nik was quiet and almost entirely silent. Dumbledore spoke to him as though nothing was amiss, brought Sirius into the conversation and then, finally, introduced Harry.



“Harry,” Dumbledore explained carefully, “has travelled a long way to meet with you, Nik. He belongs to a Nameless Community of his own and wanted to meet you.”



At once a spark of interest flared in the blue eyes and it was then that Harry realised his mistake in thinking that Nik was any older than Sirius or Severus. In fact, he considered, Nik appeared to be even younger.



“What does he want?” Nik whispered, edging fearfully towards Dumbledore. All the while, he kept his eyes on Harry as if afraid that he might suddenly leap at him.



“He’s come to meet you,” Dumbledore explained again. “The rings brought him, along with two of his friends.”



“Friends?” Nik asked with such a sudden look of pleading that Harry had to swallow hard past a lump in his throat.



“Hi,” he said softly, offering a tentative smile, “I’m Harry.”



For a moment, Nik drew further away and almost took hold of the Headmaster’s sleeve before realising what he was doing. Then, glancing into the old man’s eyes, he turned, lifted his chin and took a very determined step towards Harry.



“Nik.” He stated firmly. “Professor Nikolae Carlquist, Potions.”



“Pleased to meet you,” Harry smiled and, without thinking, offered to shake Nik’s hand.



At once, Nik withdrew. He took three steps away from Harry, sidled away from Dumbledore and edged finally towards the dining table in the corner of the room. Another second and Harry was sure the man would have scuttled under the table to hide like a small child. Instead, though, Sirius distracted him without even seeming to have noticed the incident.



“Hey, Nik,” he began, staring at the assorted books in a tall cabinet, “have you got that book on rare antidotes and where to find them? You know, the one with all the photos?”



Nik halted in his retreat and looked at Sirius with a flicker of irritation. “You mean the one with naked girls in Fiji?” he snapped, apparently forgetting that he was afraid. “I’ve hidden it, Sirius, because it’s no good to be looking at naked girls all day long.”



“As if I’d really be interested,” Sirius muttered but turned to look at Nik with a wide smile and then gestured to Harry. “What do you think then?” he asked.



Nik flicked a brief glance at Harry, let his gaze drop to take in the ring on his little finger and then abruptly sank down onto the carpet as he stared at his own gold ring.



“Gone,” he murmured brokenly. “All gone. Gone and left Nik on his own. I hear only silence; I see only darkness; I know nothing.”



From the way that he’d been with Nik so far, Harry was half-expecting Sirius to continue with his apparently careless, cavalier attitude so he was therefore surprised when the man crouched down beside Nik and touched the back of his head with one gentle hand.



“I know,” he whispered, “I know. Poor old Nik.”



“Poor Nikky,” Nik responded, shaking his head. “They’re all gone. Gone, gone, gone. Left Nikky all on his own.”



Dumbledore sighed and frowned. “I’m afraid,” he said quietly to Harry, “that that will probably be it for now. He’s aware of you, at least, so when you come back tomorrow, he’ll recognise you.”



“Tomorrow?” Harry stared at him, “But…” he looked then at Nik and Sirius. Nik was now leaning heavily into Sirius’ shoulder and was murmuring little broken snatches of phrases. It was obvious that any answers from this man would be a long time coming.



“You have to remember that Nik has lost everyone. As you yourself must surely realise, the Nameless Community share thoughts, emotions, dreams, appetites…everything. To lose them all in one go is to be plunged into a void and that, Harry, is simply too much to bear.”



Harry nodded, feeling shame and pity for Nik’s loss.



“For that reason,” Dumbledore went on, “I cannot urge you enough to guard your companions with your life. I should hate to think that anyone else might go through the same ordeal as our friend there.”



Harry nodded thoughtfully for a moment and then looked up at Dumbledore and decided to trust him as he would the Headmaster in his own world. “Except,” he began hesitantly, “that we’re not at quite the same risk. I mean, we’ve only cast the first two parts of the spell. We’re not linked mind, body and soul – or not completely anyway –”



“WHAT?” Nik’s head snapped up in alarm and he stared at Harry in horror.



“I…” Harry faltered and looked to Dumbledore in confusion.



“You didn’t complete the spell?” Sirius asked, bringing Harry’s attention back to where he sat on the floor. Beside him, Nik was now sitting up straight and continuing to stare at Harry.



Just as Harry started to shake his head, Nik began to speak. “The Nameless spell must be invoked verbatim, in one go and in entirety,” he stated, as if quoting. “To conjure just a portion of the spell renders those involved susceptible to outside influence. For details, see page 530: Nameless Community At Risk.”



“Nik, I think Harry knows that book from cover to cover,” Sirius grinned, glancing at Harry.



“Er…sorry,” Harry shook his head, “but what book?”



“The History of the Nameless Community,” Sirius looked up at him in surprise. “You must have read it to get the spell.”



“Sirius,” Dumbledore interjected gently, “you’re forgetting that this young man is from a different reality. It may be that he studied a different book.”



“Actually,” Harry began, feeling uncomfortable, “I haven’t studied anything about the Nameless spell. There’s only one book, I think and only one edition. Professor Dumbledore – I mean, the Headmaster of my reality – he has the only edition.”



“And you haven’t read it?” Sirius exclaimed in alarm. “Good grief, Harry, are you in the habit of casting spells on yourself with no research, no background knowledge?”



“No!” Harry shook his head furiously, “But Dumbledore had and I trust him – just as I trust Sev and Draco!” He paused to take a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm down, “There wasn’t time,” he reasoned. “Things were falling apart, I was losing control…I just couldn’t hold on to it anymore…”



‘Harry?’ Severus’ voice called then, sounding concerned, ‘Harry, where are you? What’s wrong?’



‘Nothing,’ Harry sent back, aware that Nik was quoting the same passage again; perhaps because he was distressed by the raised voices or perhaps because he wanted to emphasise just how important it was:



“The Nameless spell must be invoked verbatim, in one go and in entirety. To conjure just a portion of the spell renders those involved susceptible to outside influence. For details, see page 530: Nameless Community At Risk.”



“Yes, Nik, you said,” Sirius growled shortly.



Nik shot him a nervous glance and then sidled away, edging closer to the dining table. Noticing this, Sirius sighed, reached out and placed his hand on Nik’s shoulder.



“I’m sorry,” he murmured and drew the other man back towards him.



“All right,” Harry said then, feeling stupid and vaguely irritated, “so Sev, Draco and I are at risk because we haven’t completed the spell. I take it you mean Vol-”



“Yes, quite.” Dumbledore interrupted before he could finish the name. It was bizarre, Harry thought, that this Dumbledore should be so nervous of voicing the Dark Lord’s name.



“Well,” Harry went on, “the Dark Lord of your reality isn’t going to know about us being here, is he? And the Dark Lord of my reality is still over there and might even be wondering where I am!” He realised then that Sirius and Dumbledore were staring at him again. “What?”



“The Dark Lord of our reality and the Dark Lord of your reality is the same man,” Dumbledore explained flatly. “And we have to assume that, if he doesn’t already know of your travel, he will do soon.”



“Wait,” Harry held up one hand. “What? Voldemort’s here?” He ignored the collective wince and stared, open-mouthed when both Sirius and Dumbledore nodded.



He was about to ask for more information. He wanted to know just how Voldemort could be here in this world as well as his own. He opened his mouth to ask this and more but…



‘Harry?’ Severus’ voice interrupted then, immensely irritated. ‘Harry, I need you here – right NOW!’



*~*~*



As far as Harry was concerned, there was just a blur where memories of hasty excuses, apologies and garbled explanations should have been. He left Nik’s room in a mad dash with Nik’s alarmed cries filling his ears and Sirius’ hurried footsteps behind him.



The older man had asked questions, demanded answers but Harry was sure he’d been too rushed to answer properly and simply ran as fast as he could towards the library. On arriving, he’d found the large, wood panelled room in total uproar; filled with both shouts and discontented muttering. At the centre of a crowd, Severus had been standing, tall and imposing over a tiny little man whom Harry assumed must be the Librarian. The shorter man was arguing, asking Severus to leave immediately and neither of them looked very happy. Just behind Sev, Draco was on the floor, looking dazed as if he’d only just regained consciousness and was holding a hand to his face where blood poured freely from a cut to his cheek.



Behind the Librarian, just in front of the crowd, a huddle of older cadets were struggling to hold onto a tall lad of approximately Harry and Draco’s age. From behind, Harry could only see a glimpse of red hair and this, perhaps, should have been a clue as to the cadet’s identity.



“What the fuck is he doing here?” the tall boy demanded loudly, still struggling. “Draco-fucking-Malfoy in Hogwarts of all places!”



“Ron, for Merlin’s sake, pack it in!” another cadet insisted, “Do you really think they’d let Malfoy and Snape into Hogwarts? Think, you great oaf!”



“That bastard killed one of my brothers!” the first man exclaimed and moving forward, Harry found that it was indeed Ron Weasley.



“All right, that’s enough!” Sirius declared then, striding forwards past Harry. “Ron, give it up. This man you’ve just accosted is indeed Draco Malfoy but not – I repeat, NOT – the same Draco Malfoy who killed Charlie. Now -”



“Charlie’s dead?” Harry blurted without thinking. All eyes promptly turned on him then and he flushed a little under their combined gazes.



“Who’s he?” Ron demanded rudely, pointing with a jut of his chin as his friends were still hanging onto his arms.



“His name’s Harry Potter,” Sirius explained, “but don’t change the subject, Ron. You owe this man an apology.”



Ron muttered something darkly and glared mutinously at Draco. One of his friends gave him a shove and a girl in the crowd tutted loudly. Following the sound, it took Harry a couple of seconds to realise that it was Hermione Granger. Her hair was cropped short and consequently had lost all of it’s bushiness but her eyes held the same bright, intelligent sparkle, reminiscent of the Hermione from his own reality.



“All right, all right!” Ron growled then, shooting Hermione a nervous glance. “I’m sorry I hit you,” he said brusquely to Draco, “but what did you expect? Your twin, or whoever he is, killed own of my brothers and then I find you sitting here as large as life with this -” he stopped abruptly then and stared agape at Severus. “Bloody hell,” he whispered then.



“No, Ron, don’t say it,” Sirius interrupted. “I know, he bears a striking resemblance to Snape but I assure you he doesn’t have a Dark Mark and is, in fact, fighting on our side, against You-Know-Who.”



“Yeah, but, Sirius, look at him!” Ron argued, finally shaking off his friends.



As Sirius argued with Ron so Harry edged through the crowd towards Severus and then finally to Draco.



‘Are you all right?’ he asked silently, crouching down beside his lover.



‘I’ll live,’ Draco responded with a sniff. He paused, holding still as Harry healed his cheek and then offered a little smile of thanks.



‘Come on,’ Harry urged and then said aloud to the Potions master, “Severus, I’m going to take Draco back to our room.”



“I believe I’ll accompany you,” Severus nodded, giving the Librarian, Ron and finally Sirius a look of cool disdain.



As they made their way towards the door, Sirius broke off his conversation with Ron and briefly held Harry’s arm. “Are you all right?” he asked solicitously. “I’m sorry about all this – I should have thought! If you need anything, summon a house elf to get a message to me. I’ll be along in a bit.” He paused then for a moment and then added, “Maybe it would be an idea to have dinner in your rooms again tonight.”



Wanting only to be away from this crowd of cadets and curious on-lookers, Harry nodded and continued leading Draco out of the library.



*~*~*



‘Bloody hell! That great moron!’ Draco complained bitterly as he inspected his blood-streaked face in the bathroom mirror. Thanks to Harry, the cut was closed and all but vanished. However a bruise was starting to swell and colour Draco’s temple just above where the cut had been.



“Come here,” Harry said softly as he turned on the bath taps and then stood behind his lover to look at his reflection. He lifted his wand but Draco shook his head and healed the bruise himself.



‘I’ve got it,’ he responded with a wan smile. ‘Is that bath for me?’



Harry nodded and pressed a kiss to Draco’s mouth.



‘Share it with me?’ Draco asked with another smile, this one hopeful.



‘What about Sev?’ Harry asked, even as his hands moved as if of their own volition to embrace Draco. ‘He’ll hear us; he’ll know.’



“I’d know what you’re doing anyway,” Severus interjected from the open doorway. He gave a brief shrug and looked rueful for a moment, “Why shouldn’t you enjoy yourselves?”



‘Why shouldn’t you enjoy us too?’ Draco asked in response as he turned to favour his guardian with a very direct look.



Snape sighed, shook his head and then looked critically at Draco’s healed wounds before replying. “We’ve already had this conversation. Whilst it’s quite acceptable for the two of you to build and develop a relationship, it is quite a different thing for a teacher to get involved.”



“And what about the Nameless spell?” Harry asked, recalling what he’d learned earlier today. As the bath continued to fill, he sat on the edge and recounted what Dumbledore, Nik and Sirius had told him.



‘So we need to complete the spell when we get back?’ Draco concluded. He shrugged, “Fine by me. We’re practically an insular unit anyway; I don’t see any harm in us going the whole hog.”



“Me either,” Harry replied, realising just then that it was the truth. He was happiest when it was just the three of them together – even if Severus could sometimes be difficult.



Snape, meanwhile, made no comment but looked shrewdly at Harry for a few minutes. “There’s more, isn’t there?” he asked. “What else did they tell you?”



Harry paused and turned off the taps before drawing a deep breath. “Voldemort’s here,” he said heavily. “The same Voldemort – our Voldemort. He’s one and the same. It seems that he’s been travelling through alternate realities for ages,”



“That would explain a lot,” Severus remarked thoughtfully. “It would take enormous amounts of power, though – did Dumbledore give any hint of how he’s managing it?”



Harry shook his head and watched Draco absently as the other man toed off his shoes and socks and pulled his robes over his head without undoing the buttons. “So,” he said then, dragging his attention back to the topic at hand, “if we’re at risk of Voldemort taking control of us, we should look at completing the spell, right?”



“Perhaps,” Snape replied carefully.



As if unaware or indifferent to his audience, Draco continued undressing; unbuttoning his jeans and pulling off his t-shirt with single-minded focus on the bath before him.



Severus gave himself a little shake and started to back out of the bathroom. “We should give it more thought,” he said in parting. “Once the spell is complete, it’s irreversible. We’d be together for the rest of our lives.”



‘Although our lives would be a damned sight longer with the spell in place than without it,’ Draco responded, showing that he had been listening really. Naked now, he moved past Harry and stepped into the hot water with a happy sigh.



“They did seem very concerned that we’d only completed the first two parts,” Harry supplied and shifted a little when Draco plucked at his sleeve with a wet hand. “And Dumbledore said that I should guard you with my life,” he added and stood up to start undressing.



“Dumbledore said that?” Snape queried, pausing mid-step.



Harry nodded. “He was talking about Nik and how he’s lost everything because of Voldemort. He took away his entire Community and suddenly the man’s left with nothing. No wonder he’s going insane.” He added sadly.



He removed the last of his clothes and, with just a brief glance at Severus, climbed into the bath to sit behind Draco.



“Isn’t that a reason for not completing the spell?” Severus asked, still lingering in the bathroom. With all that they’d done, there was no awkwardness or embarrassment; instead, the Potions master gazed calmly at the two younger men as he waited for an answer.



‘I think,’ Draco began, leaning back against Harry’s chest, ‘that, even with just the first two parts of the spell in place, if I lost either of you, I’d want to curl up and die.’



Harry nodded silently, sharing the same feelings.



“You wouldn’t want to hang on for the sake of the survivor?” Severus asked curiously as he leaned against the wall.



“Actually,” Harry said with slow consideration, “I don’t know what I’d do. I mean, if I lost Draco,” he began and cupped some of the warm bath water in his hand before letting it run in narrow rivulets down his lover’s chest, “it may be that I’d find comfort with you.” He looked up at Severus and then shrugged, “But, if you’re adamant that we couldn’t ever be together…”



‘You love him,’ Draco said then to Snape and looked at him with a hint of challenge in his grey eyes. ‘You’re not telling me that, if Harry was alone and in pain, you’d turn your back and ignore him.’



“You’re forgetting that I love you too,” Severus replied and took two steps back into the middle of the room. “If you were to die, don’t you think I’d need comfort just as much as Harry?”



‘Then there’s the answer.’ Draco smiled, ‘If I die, you and Harry can console each other in your mutual grief – wailing and crying over my beautiful tombstone.’



“Don’t,” Harry shushed him and wrapped his arms possessively around Draco’s chest. “Enough talk of dying. Yes, I’d turn to Sev and yes, I’d offer him as much comfort as I, myself, would require. But that doesn’t mean it would be easy. I love you,” he finished in a murmur and pressed a soft kiss against Draco’s temple.



Draco accepted the kiss with a sweet smile and then looked up as the Potions master stepped closer still. Finally Snape sat down on the edge of the bath and reached down to stroke his ward’s recently healed cheek with his thumb. He said nothing but his feelings were evident to both Draco and Harry.



“If we squash up, there’s probably room in here for three,” Harry suggested hesitantly. He glanced shyly up at Severus and tried desperately not to hope.



“I’m sorry,” Sev replied softly, sounding truly regretful.



He stood then and took a deep breath as he looked down at the two men with a look of something akin to longing. And then he was gone; with a swirl of robes and just a lingering sense of pain.