Visions of an Empath

Chapter 21

Harry followed Severus to the dining room, brimming with curiosity. He wondered what the surprise Severus had planned for him was, but his stoic mate refused to give him so much as a hint. What could it possibly be? Damn it, he wanted to know what it was now! Harry saw the smug smirk on Severus’ face and pouted petulantly. The bloody vampire just loved to keep his curiosity burning.

Harry’s sulky ruminations were cut short as the sounds of laughter reached him. He looked up curiously and realised that they had finally reached the dining room. The first thing he noticed was Ron sitting at the table with juice dripping down his shocked face. Suppressing a laugh, Harry calmly handed the redhead a napkin and said, “Uh, Ron? You’re supposed to drink your juice, not wear it.”

Ron scowled at Harry before pointing an accusing finger at Draco. “That prat did this to me.” Muttering ominously under his breath, Ron jerkily wiped the juice off his face. Once his face was dry, he grimaced at the lingering stickiness from the juice.

Draco sniffed haughtily and looked down his nose at the redhead. “I did no such thing, and you can’t prove otherwise.” And technically, he was telling the truth. Luna was the one who actually cast the spell to make Ron’s juice spray into the teen’s face.

Ron huffed irritably while Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a cleaning charm on the sulking redhead, getting the juice out of his hair and clothing. It didn’t help with the stickiness, though. “Honestly, Ron, it was just a joke. There’s no point in sulking about it.”

Harry sat down next to Ron and picked up the glass Ron had knocked over. Lowering his Occlumency shields just a bit, he saw a vision of Luna sneakily casting the spell that hit the glass. Harry grinned at Ron as he set the glass back down. “Yeah, Ron. There’s no point in sulking about it. Don’t get mad, get even. Of course, you may want to prank the right person. Right, Luna?”

Luna smiled serenely and lifted her glass in acknowledgement. “That’s a very handy gift you have, Harry.”

Harry smiled and nodded. “I could say the same about you, Luna.”

Ron spluttered in shock, looking at Luna as though he’d never seen her before. “Wait! Luna’s the one who pranked me? But... but...”

Severus smirked at the redheaded teen and drawled, “Mr. Weasley, if you can’t say anything articulate, kindly shut your mouth. You look ridiculous.”

Ron’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click of his teeth. Otherwise ignoring the vampire, he turned back toward Harry. “Hey, Harry, where have you been all day? You snuck off without a word this morning.”

Harry smiled sheepishly. “I had lunch in my room and took a short nap.” His smile brightened as he thought of the news he wanted to share. “I felt the baby today.”

Hermione squealed happily. “It kicked?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I felt his emotions. I was humming to him, and all of a sudden, I felt this wave of happiness rush through me. It was amazing. Oh, and Severus could hear his little heartbeat.”

“That’s great, Harry,” sighed Hermione softly. She truly envied Harry for his gift at that moment. It would be amazing to have that kind of connection to a child while it was still in the womb.

The conversation was cut short when Lucius walked into the room with a weary scowl on his face. He’d just received unsettling news from Toffee, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. How was he supposed to tell his little mate that Lupin had been captured and was in very bad shape? There was no hope for it, though. He would tell Harry after dinner.

Lucius sighed and snapped his fingers, signalling for the house-elves to bring out supper. The table was suddenly brimming with food, and everyone began filling their plates. Well, everyone but Harry, that is. Harry stared at the table in dismay as he rubbed his stomach gently, trying to ease his sudden nausea. It didn’t help, though. All he could smell was the fish and chips Ron was busy stuffing into his mouth, and it was making his stomach churn unpleasantly.

Unfortunately, Harry lost the battle with his rising nausea when Ron turned toward him and mumbled something around the mass of food in his mouth. Harry bolted from the table and rushed out of the room, desperately trying to reach the bathroom before he lost the contents of his stomach. Almost staggering into the bathroom, he fell to his knees in front of the toilet and retched miserably. He only vaguely heard someone enter the bathroom and felt a cool, soothing hand begin to rub his back gently.

His nausea finally easing, Harry collapsed against Lucius’ chest, for that was who held him. Lucius always smelled cool and crisp like a snowy, wintery day. The blonde handed him a glass of water, and Harry gulped it down greedily. The cool liquid soothed his parched throat and eased his clenching stomach, and he relaxed with a relieved sigh.

“Thanks, Lucius. I feel much better now.”

“You’re welcome. I was a bit nauseated by that display myself. That boy has no manners whatsoever,” said Lucius dryly. “Do you think you could eat something now? I’m sure Miss Granger can convince Mr. Weasley the merits of chewing with his mouth closed from now on.”

Harry shuddered slightly at the mere thought of stepping foot back in that dining room. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I feel sick even thinking about the smell of fish. Ron just made it worse.”

Lucius stood up and helped Harry to his feet. “I could always have a house-elf bring you some soup or a sandwich to our bedroom if you would prefer.”

“Yeah, that would be all right,” said Harry gratefully. A bowl of soup and a sandwich actually sounded great. “Will you ask them to bring some chicken soup and a ham sandwich?”

“I’ll even join you,” said Lucius as he walked with Harry back to their room.

As Harry settled comfortably on the bed, Lucius called for a house-elf. Harry politely requested what he wanted for supper before Lucius could open his mouth, smirking at the blonde when the house-elf smiled brightly and agreed eagerly. Lucius shook his head in exasperation. Before long, every house-elf he owned would be wrapped around Harry’s little finger.

A few moments later, the house-elf popped back into the room with a food-laden tray. The house-elf set the tray on the bedside table and popped out of the room. Harry grabbed his bowl of soup and took a hesitant bite, smiling in relief when his stomach didn’t immediately reject the food. He greedily took another bite, and before long, both the soup and sandwich were happily consumed.

Sitting back with a satisfied sigh, Harry looked up and saw Lucius frowning pensively. “Is something wrong, Lucius? You haven’t touched your food.”

Lucius sighed and looked at Harry. “The Dark Lord has captured your werewolf friend, Remus Lupin.”

“Can Severus free him like he did Luna and Ollivander?” asked Harry worriedly.

“Not this time. The Dark Lord is keeping him under constant surveillance. He’s trying to draw you out,” said Lucius seriously.

“Well, maybe we should oblige him,” said Harry softly.

“Excuse me?” hissed Lucius angrily. “You are not seriously suggesting that we face him right now. Harry, you’re pregnant!”

“And that’s exactly why we should do this now. You remember what Luna and Severus said. Infant drakes are immune to wizarding magic, especially dark magic. Unless he has another drake in his army, I’ll be perfectly fine,” said Harry reasonably.

“You’re protected from magical attacks, Harry. You’re still vulnerable to physical attacks,” snapped Lucius.

“But we’re so close to ending this, Lucius. Nagini is the only horcrux left. We need to destroy her before we can focus our attention on him.”

Lucius scowled at Harry. “Yeah, and that bloody snake hardly ever leaves the Dark Lord’s side. It’s too dangerous.”

“We have to do this, Lucius. If I don’t face him, he’ll kill Remus and who knows how many others. Severus has the best chance of getting to Nagini undetected. All we need to do is distract Voldie long enough for Severus to off the bloody snake. Then you could transform into your drake form and freeze the bastard. Once snake-face is completely frozen, a well-aimed Reducto should finish the job,” said Harry.

Lucius looked at Harry in astonishment. That was actually a well thought out plan. Where in Merlin’s name had his reckless Gryffindor gone? Harry’s plan even made Severus and Lucius the key players in the battle instead of putting himself on the front line.

As Lucius silently mulled over Harry’s idea, searching for any potential problems and pitfalls, Severus walked into the room. Seeing the expectant look on Harry’s face and the pensive look on Lucius’, Severus felt a knot of dread settling in his stomach. Obviously, something had happened with the Dark Lord. “What has happened now?”

“Snake-face has Remus,” said Harry promptly. “We’re just going over the plan to get him back.”

“No,” said Severus coldly, glaring at the teen. “The mutt can rot for all I care. You are not rushing in blindly to save him. It’s too dangerous, and you’re pregnant.”

Lucius winced at Severus’ choice of words and ducked for cover. That was just the wrong thing to say to their emotional mate. He got out of the way just in time, too. Harry hurled his empty supper tray at the vampire with a hiss of fury, scowling when Severus dodged his impromptu missile.

“You may be my mate, Severus Snape, but that does not mean you control me,” snarled Harry.

“I have a say when you’re putting our child at risk,” snapped Severus angrily.

“If you had bothered to listen to what I had to say, you would know that I hadn’t planned any such thing. However, you seem to think you know all and couldn’t be bothered to think otherwise,” said Harry snidely. A sudden rush of sadness swept through him, bringing tears to his eyes as the baby’s emotions affected his own. Harry rubbed his stomach gently, trying to ease the baby’s distress.

“What’s wrong?” asked Severus sharply, wincing inwardly at tears in Harry’s eyes.

Lucius sat down on the bed beside Harry and placed his hand on the teen’s stomach. “Is your stomach hurting? Is something wrong with the baby?”

Harry shook his head, smiling as the sadness turned into bright happiness at his father’s voice. “Our argument upset him, I think. He’s happy now, though.”

“You can feel his emotions?” asked Lucius in awe.

Harry nodded and covered Lucius’ hand with his own, channelling the baby’s emotions into Lucius. Lucius gasped at the influx of happiness suffusing his entire body. That was the baby? This feeling was incredible. It was such a pure and innocent joy.

“Severus heard the baby’s heartbeat, too,” said Harry, gently removing his hands and stopping the flood of emotions. He turned back toward the vampire. “Now do you want to hear what we have planned or not?”

“Fine. Let’s hear it,” said Severus reluctantly.

Lucius obligingly told Severus the plan. Severus had to admit that he was mildly impressed with what he heard. Harry needn’t be involved at all. The plan depended on Severus and Lucius for success and kept their pregnant mate off the front line.

“That plan will suffice,” said Severus grudgingly.

“Great! So the question now is where to do this. I figure the easiest thing to do would find a place and break the taboo,” said Harry quickly.

“Absolutely not!” snapped Severus.

“He’s right, Harry. If you’ll remember, it was Greyback who showed up when you broke the taboo at Grimmauld Place. The Dark Lord will only appear if he knows for sure that you are there,” said Lucius reasonably.

“I can go to Hogwarts,” said Harry tentatively. “That would draw out Voldie for sure. And as long as Lucius stays nearby in his mini-drake form, I should be perfectly fine. I’m sure Lucius can manage to keep the Death Eaters from getting close enough to attack physically. I’ll even stick close to the shadows so you can grab me out of harm’s way if necessary.”

Severus and Lucius shared a long look. As much as it pained them to admit it, Harry’s plan was sound. It was the only way to guarantee the Dark Lord’s personal appearance, and as long as Harry kept his promise to stay out of the thick of things, the plan should proceed smoothly. Unfortunately, with Harry involved, things rarely went smoothly. At this point, they could only hope for the best and protect their precious mate with every fibre of their being.

“I highly doubt that the Dark Lord plans to kill Lupin immediately, so we will commence with the plan on the morrow. Midday would be best, around lunchtime. More students will be milling about to catch sight of you,” said Severus calmly. He levelled a glare at Harry. “You do not stray from Lucius’ side and stay close to the shadows.”

“I promise,” said Harry solemnly. Now that they had a sure plan to defeat Voldemort, Harry felt as though a great weight had lifted from his chest. Trying to lighten the mood, Harry grinned at his two mates. “So, Severus, where’s my surprise?”

Severus shook his head and pulled the tiny instruments from his pocket, placing them in Harry’s hands. “Right here, brat.” The teen looked down at the minuscule instruments blankly, silently asking himself what he was supposed to do with a toy violin and piano. Severus sighed at the teen’s obtuseness and picked up the little violin. He enlarged it and handed it to Lucius. “Now Lucius can play for you and the baby.”

Harry grinned sheepishly. As much as he embraced wizarding life, he still sometimes forgot what magic could do.

Lucius stared down at his violin in shock. It was definitely his violin, but he was absolutely positive he’d left at the manor. “I can’t believe you actually went to Malfoy Manor to get this, Severus. In case you’ve forgotten, the Dark Lord has taken up residence there.”

Severus smirked smugly. “Apparently, the rest of our former comrades aren’t as musically inclined as you are. The room was still locked and collecting dust. Besides, I couldn’t deprive our mate and our baby of your musical skills once Harry told me how happy the baby felt when he hummed to him this afternoon.”

“He’s turning us both into sentimental Gryffindors,” muttered Lucius in exasperation.

Harry just smirked at Lucius before smiling sweetly. “Will you play for me, Lucius? The baby loves it when I hum to him.”

Lucius lifted the violin to his chin and started to play. Harry listened to the beautiful music, eyes closed in contentment. An answering hum of contentment from the baby swelled through him, and he knew that no matter what happened tomorrow, it was moments like that he treasured the most.