Harry Potter and The Beloved Incubus (BP4)
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Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
41
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21,699
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120
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Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
41
Views:
21,699
Reviews:
120
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Beloved Child
Chapter Number/Total: 20/40
Chapter Title: Beloved Child
Words: 4058 Words
The previous three days had seemed to fly by faster than any days should have. Harry had done absolutely nothing for those days except think about what he was going to have to do. Even without Dementors there, he could hear his mother's screaming voice inside his head; he could hear her crying for his own safety. He closed his eyes and could hardly believe that he had been there that night - of course he had already known that he had been there that night, but not as he was now, not able to maybe save his parents and doing nothing.
He shivered, trying to wipe his mind clean from the awful images, and placed a hand over his stomach. He knew that no matter what, no matter how hard it would be to stand aside, he could not try to save them. He could not if he was to keep his life how it was at present: married to Draco and carrying their child. He could do nothing to risk that.
He sighed and began dressing again, shaking his head at himself.
"Dress in layers. It will be cold," Draco said, fretting over the Muggle clothes he had to wear.
Harry nodded, walking over to get another shirt to slip on over the one he was already wearing.
"And gloves and a hat," Draco added. "And don't forget your Invisibility Cloak."
Harry nodded again. "Okay," he said quietly. "We should wear sweatshirts with hoods or something too. Snape said you had your hood up."
Draco held up the black sweatshirt Harry had already thrown at him earlier. "I'll tie my hair back too," he said.
Harry nodded again. "Yeah, because Snape didn't have any idea who you were."
"Which means I have to wear gloves too," Draco said, holding up his silver hand.
"Yes. Cover anything you could be identified from," Harry said, pulling on his own sweatshirt.
"It's a good thing it will be cold, otherwise I would suffocate," Draco drawled.
"I wonder if it will be cold there, though," said Harry. "It will only be Halloween."
Draco shrugged. "Better than July."
"Yeah," said Harry simply, pulling on his gloves now. "What time are we supposed to be there?"
"We know it was night but not when," Draco said. "We should try to be at the house by sunset."
"Okay," Harry said, turning his head and looking out of the window. "We should probably get going soon then if we want to make it there in time. We have to catch the train."
They hadn't told anyone besides Ron and Hermione where they were going, of course. So they would Apparate directly to the train station. Draco slung a back pack over his shoulder which contained supplies including some food stuffs just in case.
Harry moved over to Draco and brought a hand up to cup his cheek. He look a rather large breath and let it out slowly. "I love you," he said, just feeling the need to tell him.
Looking into those green depths always made Draco smile and he leaned forward to graze his lips against his lover's. "I love you," he whispered against them.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. "Are you ready?" he asked, kissing Draco very gently before he pulled away from him.
Draco took a deep breath and nodded, patting the pocket of his back trousers where he carried the Timekey.
"So am I. Let's go," Harry said, grasping Draco's free hand and pulling himself close to him.
Draco Apparated them to the station and they went through the process of buying tickets and boarding the train. Draco let Harry handle the Muggle transactions, always feeling a little odd in those situations.
Harry sat very close to Draco on the way. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop thinking of his mother's voice. He took a shuddering breath when he looked outside at the setting sun, knowing that very soon, he would be hearing that voice for real.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked him quietly, putting an arm around him and looking at him with a worried frown.
Harry gave a small shrug, frowning. "I've told you that I hear her voice in dreams sometimes, didn't I?" he asked. "In dreams and around Dementors. I just - I know that it's going to be bad ... because I've heard it before."
"I will be there, beside you," Draco said. "I hope that helps."
"It does. Merlin, it does," Harry said, reaching for Draco's hand. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to go alone, without you."
"Shall I read to you?" Draco asked, holding up the small book of Saki's short stories that he had read from on their last train ride.
Harry smiled gently. "Sure," he said quietly, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.
Draco read "Sredni Vashtar" and a few other stories about animals from his book by Saki to Harry until they reached the station for Godric's Hollow. They collected their things and stepped out onto the platform. Hermione had helped them with a map to find the location once they arrived.
Harry took another deep breath as he looked around. He pulled the map out of his pocket and thanked whoever was listening that Hermione was his friend. "It's not far," he said to Draco. "Just in a neighbourhood a bit west from here. It shouldn't take long to walk."
They walked together through the streets, their Muggle clothes and the cold February air helped them blend. The sun was setting, a brilliant backdrop to the crisp clear day.
It didn't take them long to get there, but Harry was still very happy for his hat, gloves and layers of clothing. When he turned onto the dirt road where the house was supposed to be, his heart began to speed up and both fear and some kind of strange excitement sprung up inside him.
"Is it still empty in this time?" Draco asked.
"It was mostly destroyed," Harry answered. "I suppose it might have been built up again, but I assume it's either going to be an empty space, or boarded up or something like that."
As they walked, the houses thinned out and the area was more wooded. Finally, they came to the place that Hermione had marked on the map. The house was boarded up, the paint was peeling and the yard overgrown. They made their way up a gravel path that was as much weed as road now.
Harry bit his lip as he walked up the drive with Draco, staring at the house. When he reached it, he walked up the few creaky steps of the front porch. The doors and windows could not be entered as they were and he turned back to Draco. "Should we go in?" he asked in a quiet voice. Speaking loudly, or even normally here seemed ... wrong.
"We could look around now, if you like," Draco said, "so we know the layout. But when we use the Timekey, we should be outside, just to be safe."
Harry nodded and pulled his wand. He looked around himself once, just to make sure, before he blasted the plywood nailed over the entrance away. The place didn't have a door and the hinges looked like they'd been torn clean off. He stepped inside the house and looked around at what looked like it had once been the sitting room.
The door might have kept people out, but not vermin, who scattered with the blast. Draco studied the damage to the room -- holes in the walls and furniture in pieces. A chill went down his spine when he realised that it looked like the aftermath of a magical battle.
"Merlin," Harry whispered, looking around at the mess. He kicked aside what looked like plaster and wood and, judging by the hole in the ceiling, that's exactly what it was. There were scorch marks in some places on the wooden floor and Harry knew that something had happened in this room. Had this been where his father had died?
"They fought here," Draco said quietly. "He didn't go down without a fight."
Harry nodded and felt extreme sadness but pride as well. "Voldemort told me he died straight-backed and proud," he said, leaning down to touch one of the marks on the floor.
"Sounds like you are a lot like him," Draco smirked.
Harry snorted quietly. "That's what Sirius always said," he replied, moving over to the staircase that he wasn't sure was stable. He looked up it, wondering if he should risk going up.
"Careful," Draco said, placing a hand on his arm.
"I've had enough experience with old staircases to know that," Harry said, placing a gentle foot on the first step. Once up a few steps, it seemed stable enough. "I think it's fine," he said, looking over his shoulder at Draco. "It hasn't been that long."
Draco snorted but had his wand out just in case. "Then let me go first," he said.
Harry stepped to the side so Draco could go ahead of him. "You be careful, too," he said.
"Certainly," Draco said, sounding tense. He made his way up, testing the steps as he went. There were some that were loose and he pointed them out to Harry. Finally, they stood in the upstairs hall where there were three doorways, one of which was missing the door. The other two stood ajar.
Harry followed Draco up and paused when he saw the doors. He had expected something like this, but seeing it was ... he couldn't think of a word. "That must have been ...." he said quietly, not bothering to finish his sentence. He pointed to the room with the missing door.
Draco cast Lumos as the sun had nearly set now. The room still had toys in it and a cot. The once bright colours of the nursery were faded now, the wall paper peeling.
Harry stepped inside and stared around quietly for a few moments. There was nothing wrong in this room except for the missing door and years of being empty of life. He walked over to the cot and placed both hands on it, staring at the small stuffed toys and the little blankets inside.
Draco walked up behind him, putting his arms around his lover's body and resting them on his belly. "This was yours," he said softly. "They wanted you to be safe and happy."
Harry could feel his eyes welling with tears and he closed them as he nodded his head and leaned it back against Draco.
Draco didn't know what he could do except hold him, so he stood in the darkening room with his husband and waited.
After a few minutes, Harry thought he could manage to talk without his voice cracking. "We should go," he said quietly. "It's probably almost time."
Draco nodded, releasing him and walking back to the hall. He looked into the bathroom and what must have been the Harry's parents' room. "We should check around downstairs, too," he said.
"Yeah," Harry said, walking over to the stairs and making his way back down them.
They found a small study - the books long ruined by the elements - and a kitchen/dining room. Then Draco found a door to the basement. He looked at it, tracing invisible runes on the wood. "This used to be heavily warded," he said.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did it?" he asked coming to look over Draco's shoulder.
Draco nodded and opened the door, looking down the wooden steps into the cellar.
"Should we go down there?" Harry said, wondering what could have been placed there to be warded.
"The stairs here are even more likely to be a problem, and if they were Unspeakables, the Ministry would have cleaned it out," Draco said, eyeing the cellar uncomfortably.
Harry nodded and took a step back so that Draco could move back as well. "It was probably for their research," he said quietly.
Draco closed the door and held out his hand to Harry. "Let's go into the backyard and use the Timekey from there," he said.
Harry took another deep breath and took Draco's hand, walking with him out of the house and around to the back. "Do we activate it or does it activate itself?" he asked.
"I think it will activate at the right time and we had better both be touching it when that happens," Draco said, moving to the far back of what had been the garden.
"We should be out of sight," Harry said. "And you should get it out."
Draco nodded pulling the pendant from his pocket. "Let's wait behind this old garden shed," he suggested.
Harry moved to where Draco had indicated and leaned against the wall, holding out a hand to take hold of the necklace with Draco.
Draco took his hand, entwining his with Harry's around the pendant and using his other arm to pull Harry close. It was getting pretty dark now.
"I'm ready for this," Harry whispered, squeezing Draco's hand.
They didn't have long to wait. Suddenly the pendant seemed warmer than their hands and Draco knew just before that classic tug in his gut that it had activated.
Harry closed his eyes and held Draco as tightly as he could, only opening them again when he knew that they had made the trip. The air was cool, not cold anymore and the snow had gone, replaced with a ground covered in fallen leaves.
Draco looked about. The overgrowth was trimmed back and the fence was no longer listing to the side. He kissed Harry on the forehead before releasing him and tucking the pendant back into his pocket.
"Is he ... here yet?" Harry asked, taking a few careful steps to peer around the back of the shed. There were lights on in the house and the night was quiet.
"We must be in the past," Draco snorted, "because I can't see anything there but an empty lot."
Harry looked at Draco, confused. "What ...?" he said, but then his eyes widened with understanding. "The Fidelius Charm," he said. "But then ... how ... how will you have anything to do with this?"
"I will be beside you even if I can't see what is going on," Draco said. It actually made him nervous, but he knew it was important. "What do you see?"
"A house. The lights are on and everything looks okay ... for now," Harry answered, a bit more nervous now, too.
"Do you want to ... look, to see them?" Draco whispered.
Harry stared at Draco and then at the house silently for a few moments, thinking, trying to decide. He finally took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly, holding his hand out for Draco's.
Draco took Harry's hand with his silver one, holding his wand in the other and keeping an eye out for anyone else.
Harry swallowed and ducked his head down before moving quietly towards the house. The paint wasn't peeling now and its windows were not boarded up. He moved silently around until he was standing against the right side of the house, right outside the sitting room window.
There was muffled laughter and then, "Lily!" and Harry closed his eyes. "Lily, look what Harry's doing!"
"Oh, God," Harry whispered, his hand tightening on Draco's.
"What's happened?" Draco whispered, watching Harry since he couldn't see anything himself.
"I can hear them," Harry whispered. He took a few deep breaths and finally turned to stare through the window.
The lights in the house were soft and warm, the room clean and the furniture not in pieces everywhere. A black-haired man was sitting on the floor by the sofa, holding his arms out and smiling. He was looking at the very small black-haired boy, who was holding onto the sofa with tiny hands. Harry watched as his father attempted to get him to walk, his considerably younger, one-year-old self.
"He's trying to teach me to walk," Harry whispered for Draco's sake, still grasping his hand.
"I bet you are adorable," Draco whispered.
At Draco's words, Harry stared at himself again, at the little, determined-looking face that he could hardly believe was his own.
"What?" came a new voice from what sounded like the kitchen, a female voice.
"Quick!" James yelled happily, still holding his arms out. "Come on, Harry. Come on. Show daddy you can walk. Come on."
Lily entered then, her long auburn hair tied into a braid down her back. She gasped happily. "Did he get up there by himself?" she asked, rushing over to her husband and son and getting to her knees beside them.
"Yeah," James said enthusiastically. "All by himself, 'cause he's a big boy, huh, Harry? Are you a big boy?" He reached out and tickled baby Harry's belly, rewarded with a delighted laugh from the child.
Harry let out a quiet, sad laugh of his own.
Draco was caught by the look on his husband's face, a kind of longing that made his own heart clench.
"He is just amazing," Lily said, smiling hugely, her face lit up beautifully. "We have the smartest little boy in the world." She reached her arms out now. "Will you come to mummy, Harry?"
Harry watched himself as he tried to take a step forward and fell to the ground on his bottom.
Lily laughed and crawled towards her son, pulling him into her arms. "That's my little boy," she said in that type of voice most people use when talking to babies. "My precious little boy, yes he is."
James smiled and reached for the end of Lily's braid, tickling baby Harry's chin and neck with it.
Harry's heart ached in his chest. He knew it wouldn't be long.
"I am right beside you, where I belong," Draco whispered, trying to anchor Harry in what their mission was in this time.
"I know," Harry said quietly, tearing his eyes from the window to stare at Draco. He moved over to him and hugged him tightly. "He'll be here any minute now," he whispered in his ear.
"Put your Cloak on Harry," Draco said. "We can't risk the Dark Lord seeing you."
Harry nodded, moving away from Draco and reaching for the sack they had brought. He took it from Draco and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, shaking it out and pulling it over and around himself. "You should put the pack somewhere we can get it later," he said.
Draco nodded and put the pack at the base of a tree among some bushes.
Harry moved close to Draco, touching him so that he could tell where he was. "We should move to the front of the house to watch for him," he said, taking Draco's hand from beneath the Cloak. He led them to where they could see everything in the front yard.
There was a loud crack and two figures appeared in front of the small house. The taller figure threw his hood back from his face and raised his wand, blasting the door to the house inward.
The shorter figure seemed to cower back, flinching a bit.
Harry gasped at how carelessly it was done, without even a second thought, and pulled his wand, his breathing and heart speeding up.
There was a scream from inside the house and then the sound of a baby crying. There were obviously several seconds of confusion before the shouting began.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off-" came James's voice, saying what Harry himself had heard inside his head over and over again so many times.
Voldemort strode into the house, laughing.
Harry was breathing unevenly and shallow, the hand on his wand shaking. His eyes were focused on the short figure still standing outside the house, as if not wanting to go in.
"I have to get closer," Harry whispered so quietly, he wasn't sure if Draco had heard.
Draco was doing his best to hide in the shadows, his wand gripped in his right hand. "I can see Voldemort," he whispered.
"Even though he's in the house?" Harry whispered taking a step forward, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
"Yes, I can't see the house but I can see him," Draco said. "He is laughing and firing hexes at someone."
Harry's hand shook again. "I'm moving closer," he said, hearing the hexes and curses and laughing going on inside in the house.
The short figure was still standing outside, having now moved up on the porch, but still cowering, and suddenly, Harry knew exactly who it had to be under the hood.
Draco watched in fascination at the strange sight before him. He still couldn't see the house or anyone but Voldemort.
A sudden idea struck Harry and he released Draco's hand as he ran off as quick as he could manage, the shouts and spells hitting the walls growing louder with every step he took. When he reached the porch, he clambered up the steps and wrenched back the second figure's hood, hoping against hope that it would indeed be Wormtail. It was. Pettigrew squealed with fright and spun around, looking about himself wildly. He looked much younger and fatter then he did in Harry's own time, and his head was full of hair.
Harry took his wand out so that there was simply a floating hand and arm. He pressed the wand to Wormtail's neck. Pettigrew opened his mouth to cry out and his eyes widened in fear.
"Call for him and I will kill you," Harry promised in a deadly whisper. "You will be dead before he turns around. Don't try to transfigure, either."
Wormtail shut his mouth again, letting out a whimper.
Harry reached out with his other hand and grabbed the front of Wormtail's robes, hoping that he wasn't doing anything to mess up time. "Follow me," he growled, and Voldemort was apparently so caught up in his battle with James, he didn't notice what was going on just outside.
Harry led the trembling man, who wasn't much older than himself, back over to where Draco stood. "Don't show your face," Harry whispered to his husband.
"What are you doing?" Draco hissed.
"Tell him the address of the house. Tell him the secret," Harry hissed at Wormtail.
Wormtail trembled even more violently, looking at Draco and then at the floating hands clutching him and holding a wand to his throat.
"Tell him or I'll kill you," Harry growled, pressing the wand in further.
"But - I - I don't -" Wormtail squeaked.
"One ..." Harry began, pressing the wand closer still.
"I - I don't know what you're -"
"Two ..."
"Godric's Hollow!" Wormtail squawked, sweating and looking fearfully towards the house. "James, Lily and Harry Potter are living in Godric's Hollow on 27 Dilly's Street."
Draco was frowning at the spot where his husband's hand came from the air. Suddenly, behind Pettigrew and the invisible Harry, the house of Lily and James appeared. "I can see it now," he said.
Harry was panting with the effort of keeping from actually trying to kill Wormtail. "I should kill you still," he hissed. He turned his head to Draco. "He needs a Stunner or else he'll run squealing. We can leave him here until everything is done. He won't say anything to his Master. He is too much of a coward and Voldemort wouldn't be pleased, would he?"
Wormtail shook again in Harry's hands.
Harry waited for confirmation from Draco to cast the spell.
Draco cast the spell on Pettigrew, scowling at where he knew his husband was under the cloak.
Harry let Wormtail go, watching as he fell to the ground in a limp heap. He resisted the urge to kick him.
"Harry," Draco warned, "you can't change things."
"I know," Harry said shortly, glaring at Wormtail still. "I don't know what to do now," he said. "Do I need to see something inside the house?" He looked back up where the battle still seemed to be going on.
"No, we wait here for Severus," Draco said, not even wanting to consider letting Harry anywhere near Voldemort.
Chapter Title: Beloved Child
Words: 4058 Words
The previous three days had seemed to fly by faster than any days should have. Harry had done absolutely nothing for those days except think about what he was going to have to do. Even without Dementors there, he could hear his mother's screaming voice inside his head; he could hear her crying for his own safety. He closed his eyes and could hardly believe that he had been there that night - of course he had already known that he had been there that night, but not as he was now, not able to maybe save his parents and doing nothing.
He shivered, trying to wipe his mind clean from the awful images, and placed a hand over his stomach. He knew that no matter what, no matter how hard it would be to stand aside, he could not try to save them. He could not if he was to keep his life how it was at present: married to Draco and carrying their child. He could do nothing to risk that.
He sighed and began dressing again, shaking his head at himself.
"Dress in layers. It will be cold," Draco said, fretting over the Muggle clothes he had to wear.
Harry nodded, walking over to get another shirt to slip on over the one he was already wearing.
"And gloves and a hat," Draco added. "And don't forget your Invisibility Cloak."
Harry nodded again. "Okay," he said quietly. "We should wear sweatshirts with hoods or something too. Snape said you had your hood up."
Draco held up the black sweatshirt Harry had already thrown at him earlier. "I'll tie my hair back too," he said.
Harry nodded again. "Yeah, because Snape didn't have any idea who you were."
"Which means I have to wear gloves too," Draco said, holding up his silver hand.
"Yes. Cover anything you could be identified from," Harry said, pulling on his own sweatshirt.
"It's a good thing it will be cold, otherwise I would suffocate," Draco drawled.
"I wonder if it will be cold there, though," said Harry. "It will only be Halloween."
Draco shrugged. "Better than July."
"Yeah," said Harry simply, pulling on his gloves now. "What time are we supposed to be there?"
"We know it was night but not when," Draco said. "We should try to be at the house by sunset."
"Okay," Harry said, turning his head and looking out of the window. "We should probably get going soon then if we want to make it there in time. We have to catch the train."
They hadn't told anyone besides Ron and Hermione where they were going, of course. So they would Apparate directly to the train station. Draco slung a back pack over his shoulder which contained supplies including some food stuffs just in case.
Harry moved over to Draco and brought a hand up to cup his cheek. He look a rather large breath and let it out slowly. "I love you," he said, just feeling the need to tell him.
Looking into those green depths always made Draco smile and he leaned forward to graze his lips against his lover's. "I love you," he whispered against them.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. "Are you ready?" he asked, kissing Draco very gently before he pulled away from him.
Draco took a deep breath and nodded, patting the pocket of his back trousers where he carried the Timekey.
"So am I. Let's go," Harry said, grasping Draco's free hand and pulling himself close to him.
Draco Apparated them to the station and they went through the process of buying tickets and boarding the train. Draco let Harry handle the Muggle transactions, always feeling a little odd in those situations.
Harry sat very close to Draco on the way. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop thinking of his mother's voice. He took a shuddering breath when he looked outside at the setting sun, knowing that very soon, he would be hearing that voice for real.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked him quietly, putting an arm around him and looking at him with a worried frown.
Harry gave a small shrug, frowning. "I've told you that I hear her voice in dreams sometimes, didn't I?" he asked. "In dreams and around Dementors. I just - I know that it's going to be bad ... because I've heard it before."
"I will be there, beside you," Draco said. "I hope that helps."
"It does. Merlin, it does," Harry said, reaching for Draco's hand. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to go alone, without you."
"Shall I read to you?" Draco asked, holding up the small book of Saki's short stories that he had read from on their last train ride.
Harry smiled gently. "Sure," he said quietly, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.
Draco read "Sredni Vashtar" and a few other stories about animals from his book by Saki to Harry until they reached the station for Godric's Hollow. They collected their things and stepped out onto the platform. Hermione had helped them with a map to find the location once they arrived.
Harry took another deep breath as he looked around. He pulled the map out of his pocket and thanked whoever was listening that Hermione was his friend. "It's not far," he said to Draco. "Just in a neighbourhood a bit west from here. It shouldn't take long to walk."
They walked together through the streets, their Muggle clothes and the cold February air helped them blend. The sun was setting, a brilliant backdrop to the crisp clear day.
It didn't take them long to get there, but Harry was still very happy for his hat, gloves and layers of clothing. When he turned onto the dirt road where the house was supposed to be, his heart began to speed up and both fear and some kind of strange excitement sprung up inside him.
"Is it still empty in this time?" Draco asked.
"It was mostly destroyed," Harry answered. "I suppose it might have been built up again, but I assume it's either going to be an empty space, or boarded up or something like that."
As they walked, the houses thinned out and the area was more wooded. Finally, they came to the place that Hermione had marked on the map. The house was boarded up, the paint was peeling and the yard overgrown. They made their way up a gravel path that was as much weed as road now.
Harry bit his lip as he walked up the drive with Draco, staring at the house. When he reached it, he walked up the few creaky steps of the front porch. The doors and windows could not be entered as they were and he turned back to Draco. "Should we go in?" he asked in a quiet voice. Speaking loudly, or even normally here seemed ... wrong.
"We could look around now, if you like," Draco said, "so we know the layout. But when we use the Timekey, we should be outside, just to be safe."
Harry nodded and pulled his wand. He looked around himself once, just to make sure, before he blasted the plywood nailed over the entrance away. The place didn't have a door and the hinges looked like they'd been torn clean off. He stepped inside the house and looked around at what looked like it had once been the sitting room.
The door might have kept people out, but not vermin, who scattered with the blast. Draco studied the damage to the room -- holes in the walls and furniture in pieces. A chill went down his spine when he realised that it looked like the aftermath of a magical battle.
"Merlin," Harry whispered, looking around at the mess. He kicked aside what looked like plaster and wood and, judging by the hole in the ceiling, that's exactly what it was. There were scorch marks in some places on the wooden floor and Harry knew that something had happened in this room. Had this been where his father had died?
"They fought here," Draco said quietly. "He didn't go down without a fight."
Harry nodded and felt extreme sadness but pride as well. "Voldemort told me he died straight-backed and proud," he said, leaning down to touch one of the marks on the floor.
"Sounds like you are a lot like him," Draco smirked.
Harry snorted quietly. "That's what Sirius always said," he replied, moving over to the staircase that he wasn't sure was stable. He looked up it, wondering if he should risk going up.
"Careful," Draco said, placing a hand on his arm.
"I've had enough experience with old staircases to know that," Harry said, placing a gentle foot on the first step. Once up a few steps, it seemed stable enough. "I think it's fine," he said, looking over his shoulder at Draco. "It hasn't been that long."
Draco snorted but had his wand out just in case. "Then let me go first," he said.
Harry stepped to the side so Draco could go ahead of him. "You be careful, too," he said.
"Certainly," Draco said, sounding tense. He made his way up, testing the steps as he went. There were some that were loose and he pointed them out to Harry. Finally, they stood in the upstairs hall where there were three doorways, one of which was missing the door. The other two stood ajar.
Harry followed Draco up and paused when he saw the doors. He had expected something like this, but seeing it was ... he couldn't think of a word. "That must have been ...." he said quietly, not bothering to finish his sentence. He pointed to the room with the missing door.
Draco cast Lumos as the sun had nearly set now. The room still had toys in it and a cot. The once bright colours of the nursery were faded now, the wall paper peeling.
Harry stepped inside and stared around quietly for a few moments. There was nothing wrong in this room except for the missing door and years of being empty of life. He walked over to the cot and placed both hands on it, staring at the small stuffed toys and the little blankets inside.
Draco walked up behind him, putting his arms around his lover's body and resting them on his belly. "This was yours," he said softly. "They wanted you to be safe and happy."
Harry could feel his eyes welling with tears and he closed them as he nodded his head and leaned it back against Draco.
Draco didn't know what he could do except hold him, so he stood in the darkening room with his husband and waited.
After a few minutes, Harry thought he could manage to talk without his voice cracking. "We should go," he said quietly. "It's probably almost time."
Draco nodded, releasing him and walking back to the hall. He looked into the bathroom and what must have been the Harry's parents' room. "We should check around downstairs, too," he said.
"Yeah," Harry said, walking over to the stairs and making his way back down them.
They found a small study - the books long ruined by the elements - and a kitchen/dining room. Then Draco found a door to the basement. He looked at it, tracing invisible runes on the wood. "This used to be heavily warded," he said.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did it?" he asked coming to look over Draco's shoulder.
Draco nodded and opened the door, looking down the wooden steps into the cellar.
"Should we go down there?" Harry said, wondering what could have been placed there to be warded.
"The stairs here are even more likely to be a problem, and if they were Unspeakables, the Ministry would have cleaned it out," Draco said, eyeing the cellar uncomfortably.
Harry nodded and took a step back so that Draco could move back as well. "It was probably for their research," he said quietly.
Draco closed the door and held out his hand to Harry. "Let's go into the backyard and use the Timekey from there," he said.
Harry took another deep breath and took Draco's hand, walking with him out of the house and around to the back. "Do we activate it or does it activate itself?" he asked.
"I think it will activate at the right time and we had better both be touching it when that happens," Draco said, moving to the far back of what had been the garden.
"We should be out of sight," Harry said. "And you should get it out."
Draco nodded pulling the pendant from his pocket. "Let's wait behind this old garden shed," he suggested.
Harry moved to where Draco had indicated and leaned against the wall, holding out a hand to take hold of the necklace with Draco.
Draco took his hand, entwining his with Harry's around the pendant and using his other arm to pull Harry close. It was getting pretty dark now.
"I'm ready for this," Harry whispered, squeezing Draco's hand.
They didn't have long to wait. Suddenly the pendant seemed warmer than their hands and Draco knew just before that classic tug in his gut that it had activated.
Harry closed his eyes and held Draco as tightly as he could, only opening them again when he knew that they had made the trip. The air was cool, not cold anymore and the snow had gone, replaced with a ground covered in fallen leaves.
Draco looked about. The overgrowth was trimmed back and the fence was no longer listing to the side. He kissed Harry on the forehead before releasing him and tucking the pendant back into his pocket.
"Is he ... here yet?" Harry asked, taking a few careful steps to peer around the back of the shed. There were lights on in the house and the night was quiet.
"We must be in the past," Draco snorted, "because I can't see anything there but an empty lot."
Harry looked at Draco, confused. "What ...?" he said, but then his eyes widened with understanding. "The Fidelius Charm," he said. "But then ... how ... how will you have anything to do with this?"
"I will be beside you even if I can't see what is going on," Draco said. It actually made him nervous, but he knew it was important. "What do you see?"
"A house. The lights are on and everything looks okay ... for now," Harry answered, a bit more nervous now, too.
"Do you want to ... look, to see them?" Draco whispered.
Harry stared at Draco and then at the house silently for a few moments, thinking, trying to decide. He finally took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly, holding his hand out for Draco's.
Draco took Harry's hand with his silver one, holding his wand in the other and keeping an eye out for anyone else.
Harry swallowed and ducked his head down before moving quietly towards the house. The paint wasn't peeling now and its windows were not boarded up. He moved silently around until he was standing against the right side of the house, right outside the sitting room window.
There was muffled laughter and then, "Lily!" and Harry closed his eyes. "Lily, look what Harry's doing!"
"Oh, God," Harry whispered, his hand tightening on Draco's.
"What's happened?" Draco whispered, watching Harry since he couldn't see anything himself.
"I can hear them," Harry whispered. He took a few deep breaths and finally turned to stare through the window.
The lights in the house were soft and warm, the room clean and the furniture not in pieces everywhere. A black-haired man was sitting on the floor by the sofa, holding his arms out and smiling. He was looking at the very small black-haired boy, who was holding onto the sofa with tiny hands. Harry watched as his father attempted to get him to walk, his considerably younger, one-year-old self.
"He's trying to teach me to walk," Harry whispered for Draco's sake, still grasping his hand.
"I bet you are adorable," Draco whispered.
At Draco's words, Harry stared at himself again, at the little, determined-looking face that he could hardly believe was his own.
"What?" came a new voice from what sounded like the kitchen, a female voice.
"Quick!" James yelled happily, still holding his arms out. "Come on, Harry. Come on. Show daddy you can walk. Come on."
Lily entered then, her long auburn hair tied into a braid down her back. She gasped happily. "Did he get up there by himself?" she asked, rushing over to her husband and son and getting to her knees beside them.
"Yeah," James said enthusiastically. "All by himself, 'cause he's a big boy, huh, Harry? Are you a big boy?" He reached out and tickled baby Harry's belly, rewarded with a delighted laugh from the child.
Harry let out a quiet, sad laugh of his own.
Draco was caught by the look on his husband's face, a kind of longing that made his own heart clench.
"He is just amazing," Lily said, smiling hugely, her face lit up beautifully. "We have the smartest little boy in the world." She reached her arms out now. "Will you come to mummy, Harry?"
Harry watched himself as he tried to take a step forward and fell to the ground on his bottom.
Lily laughed and crawled towards her son, pulling him into her arms. "That's my little boy," she said in that type of voice most people use when talking to babies. "My precious little boy, yes he is."
James smiled and reached for the end of Lily's braid, tickling baby Harry's chin and neck with it.
Harry's heart ached in his chest. He knew it wouldn't be long.
"I am right beside you, where I belong," Draco whispered, trying to anchor Harry in what their mission was in this time.
"I know," Harry said quietly, tearing his eyes from the window to stare at Draco. He moved over to him and hugged him tightly. "He'll be here any minute now," he whispered in his ear.
"Put your Cloak on Harry," Draco said. "We can't risk the Dark Lord seeing you."
Harry nodded, moving away from Draco and reaching for the sack they had brought. He took it from Draco and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, shaking it out and pulling it over and around himself. "You should put the pack somewhere we can get it later," he said.
Draco nodded and put the pack at the base of a tree among some bushes.
Harry moved close to Draco, touching him so that he could tell where he was. "We should move to the front of the house to watch for him," he said, taking Draco's hand from beneath the Cloak. He led them to where they could see everything in the front yard.
There was a loud crack and two figures appeared in front of the small house. The taller figure threw his hood back from his face and raised his wand, blasting the door to the house inward.
The shorter figure seemed to cower back, flinching a bit.
Harry gasped at how carelessly it was done, without even a second thought, and pulled his wand, his breathing and heart speeding up.
There was a scream from inside the house and then the sound of a baby crying. There were obviously several seconds of confusion before the shouting began.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off-" came James's voice, saying what Harry himself had heard inside his head over and over again so many times.
Voldemort strode into the house, laughing.
Harry was breathing unevenly and shallow, the hand on his wand shaking. His eyes were focused on the short figure still standing outside the house, as if not wanting to go in.
"I have to get closer," Harry whispered so quietly, he wasn't sure if Draco had heard.
Draco was doing his best to hide in the shadows, his wand gripped in his right hand. "I can see Voldemort," he whispered.
"Even though he's in the house?" Harry whispered taking a step forward, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
"Yes, I can't see the house but I can see him," Draco said. "He is laughing and firing hexes at someone."
Harry's hand shook again. "I'm moving closer," he said, hearing the hexes and curses and laughing going on inside in the house.
The short figure was still standing outside, having now moved up on the porch, but still cowering, and suddenly, Harry knew exactly who it had to be under the hood.
Draco watched in fascination at the strange sight before him. He still couldn't see the house or anyone but Voldemort.
A sudden idea struck Harry and he released Draco's hand as he ran off as quick as he could manage, the shouts and spells hitting the walls growing louder with every step he took. When he reached the porch, he clambered up the steps and wrenched back the second figure's hood, hoping against hope that it would indeed be Wormtail. It was. Pettigrew squealed with fright and spun around, looking about himself wildly. He looked much younger and fatter then he did in Harry's own time, and his head was full of hair.
Harry took his wand out so that there was simply a floating hand and arm. He pressed the wand to Wormtail's neck. Pettigrew opened his mouth to cry out and his eyes widened in fear.
"Call for him and I will kill you," Harry promised in a deadly whisper. "You will be dead before he turns around. Don't try to transfigure, either."
Wormtail shut his mouth again, letting out a whimper.
Harry reached out with his other hand and grabbed the front of Wormtail's robes, hoping that he wasn't doing anything to mess up time. "Follow me," he growled, and Voldemort was apparently so caught up in his battle with James, he didn't notice what was going on just outside.
Harry led the trembling man, who wasn't much older than himself, back over to where Draco stood. "Don't show your face," Harry whispered to his husband.
"What are you doing?" Draco hissed.
"Tell him the address of the house. Tell him the secret," Harry hissed at Wormtail.
Wormtail trembled even more violently, looking at Draco and then at the floating hands clutching him and holding a wand to his throat.
"Tell him or I'll kill you," Harry growled, pressing the wand in further.
"But - I - I don't -" Wormtail squeaked.
"One ..." Harry began, pressing the wand closer still.
"I - I don't know what you're -"
"Two ..."
"Godric's Hollow!" Wormtail squawked, sweating and looking fearfully towards the house. "James, Lily and Harry Potter are living in Godric's Hollow on 27 Dilly's Street."
Draco was frowning at the spot where his husband's hand came from the air. Suddenly, behind Pettigrew and the invisible Harry, the house of Lily and James appeared. "I can see it now," he said.
Harry was panting with the effort of keeping from actually trying to kill Wormtail. "I should kill you still," he hissed. He turned his head to Draco. "He needs a Stunner or else he'll run squealing. We can leave him here until everything is done. He won't say anything to his Master. He is too much of a coward and Voldemort wouldn't be pleased, would he?"
Wormtail shook again in Harry's hands.
Harry waited for confirmation from Draco to cast the spell.
Draco cast the spell on Pettigrew, scowling at where he knew his husband was under the cloak.
Harry let Wormtail go, watching as he fell to the ground in a limp heap. He resisted the urge to kick him.
"Harry," Draco warned, "you can't change things."
"I know," Harry said shortly, glaring at Wormtail still. "I don't know what to do now," he said. "Do I need to see something inside the house?" He looked back up where the battle still seemed to be going on.
"No, we wait here for Severus," Draco said, not even wanting to consider letting Harry anywhere near Voldemort.