Visions of an Empath

Chapter 25

Luna looked up when Draco walked into the kitchen. Seeing no visible wounds on the other blond, she smiled in relief. “Welcome back, Draco. I see your mission was a success.”

Draco scowled slightly and sat down at the table. “If you say so. I missed half the damn battle because Harry stunned me.”

Luna giggled softly. “And what did you do to deserve that, Draco?”

Draco pouted at the question. “Why do you assume I did something?” Luna just gave him a pointed look. “Fine! The Dark Lord used the Imperious Curse on me, trying to make me kill Harry. He almost succeeded, too, but I broke free of the curse before I could actually hurt him.”

“And what of Lupin?” asked Luna.

Draco snorted at the question. “As if you don’t know. The prat healed him, of course.” He crossed his arms with a mulish expression on his face. “He should have let the damn wolf rot. Harry’s just lucky that the change didn’t affect his bonds with his mates.”

“I’m sure Harry just had faith in Lucius and Severus,” said Luna calmly.

Before he could argue that logic, Hermione and Ron ran into the room, obviously looking for Harry. Hermione smiled when she saw Draco, but it faded when she didn’t see her best friend with him. “Where’s Harry? Is he all right? Is he hurt in anyway? Dammit, Draco, you were supposed to protect him.”

“Geez, Hermione. He’s fine. Severus brought him home ages ago,” said Draco defensively. When it looked as though Hermione was going to go search for Harry, he stopped her. “Leave him alone for the moment. A lot happened, and he needs some time to adjust.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hermione hesitantly.

Draco sighed and rubbed his face wearily. “The Dark Lord captured Lupin not too long ago.”

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth in horror. “Oh, no. Harry must be crushed.”

Draco rolled his eyes and scowled at the witch. “If you would let me finish before jumping to conclusions, I would greatly appreciate it. Now, as I was saying, Lupin managed to get himself captured, and Harry, being the hotheaded hero he just has to be, planned to rush in and save him. Of course, my father and Severus managed to halt that line of thinking early on, so they came up with a new plan of action.”

Hermione’s lips quirked in a smile at Draco’s animated storytelling, but she managed to refrain from saying anything. Truth be told, it was kind of nice to see the normally snooty blond so... well, not snooty.

“It was Severus’ job to kill that damn snake while Father guarded Harry from physical harm. I had the most important job, though,” continued Draco proudly. “When I disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower last year, I became Master of the Elder Wand, so it was my job to shield Harry from the Dark Lord.”

He conveniently forgot to mention what a failure that was and continued on with his story. “And Harry was totally brilliant, too. He set up traps for the Death Eaters, using products from the twins’ joke shop. You should have seen it, Hermione. He trapped several of them in one of those Portable Swamps, and he incapacitated even more with Dung Bombs. By then half of the Dark Lord’s minions were out of commission, but Harry wasn’t done. He tossed some of that Instant Darkness Powder at them and set Severus on them.”

“Oh, the twins will love that,” crowed Ron happily. “It will just tickle them to death to know that Harry used their products against the Death Eaters like that.”

Hermione had to admit that she was impressed. It boggled the mind to think that Harry had managed to take down so many Death Eaters with mere pranks. “Then what happened?” she asked eagerly.

“Once all the Death Eaters were out of the way, Father froze the Dark Lord in a solid block of ice, and then Severus blasted him apart with a Reducto Curse,” said Draco. “Of course, that’s when Harry decided to play hero again. Apparently, Lupin was dying from silver poisoning, so Harry transformed into his animagus form and used the Breath of Life on the mangy wolf.”

“That reckless boy,” said Hermione in admonishment. “He almost lost the baby the last time he transformed. But I understand why he did it. Remus means a lot to him, and the fact that Moony has a child on the way probably swayed his decision, as well. Harry wouldn’t want Moony’s child to grow up like he did.”

Draco huffed. It figured that Hermione would see things that way. She was a bloody Gryffindor, too. “He didn’t just heal Lupin, Hermione. Using the magic of his animagus form like that caused him to actually become an Earth Drake. Harry gave up his very humanity and risked losing his mates to save that wolf.”

Hermione stared at Draco in shock. How was that possible? She’d never heard of anything like that happening before. She looked at Luna for the answer since the blonde seemed to have a never ending supply of them these days.

The blonde smiled gently at Hermione. “It’s not that farfetched, Hermione. Harry is unique. He’s mated to a Frost Drake, his animagus form was an Earth Drake, and he carries a Lightning Drake in his womb. With such a concentrated amount of drake magic surrounding him, it was almost inevitable.”

“Besides, he’s Harry Bloody Potter, and anything is possible with that prat,” added Draco snidely. “You, of all people, should know that, Hermione. I mean, how many times has he survived impossible odds in the last few years?”

Hermione sighed softly. That was certainly true. “So Harry’s an Earth Drake now. How is that affecting him? Will it hurt the baby?”

“He and the baby are fine, Hermione,” said Luna calmly. “Now that he’s a drake, his magic is more compatible with the baby’s, so transforming won’t harm the baby like it did when it was just his animagus form.”

“It could only happen to Harry,” murmured Hermione in bemusement.

***

Remus apparated back to Andromeda’s house and walked in the front door, heading straight for the kitchen. There was always at least one person in that room at this time of day. Today was no different.

Molly bustled around the kitchen, preparing a cup of tea. She sat down at the table with a soft sigh. She didn’t know what do. Poor Tonks was devastated about Remus’ disappearance, and if she didn’t start taking care of herself, she was going to lose the baby. And to add to her worries, Molly hadn’t heard from Ron or Hermione in months and Harry even longer.

“Molly.”

Molly looked up and almost screamed in surprise when she saw exactly who spoke. “Remus, you’re back. Are you alright? Where in Merlin’s name have you been? We’ve all been worried sick about you, especially your pregnant wife.”

Remus smiled at the redhead. “Calm down, Molly. Call everyone down, and I’ll tell you everything. It’s a fantastic tale.”

Molly scowled at him for a long moment before she hurried out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, a puffy, red-eyed Tonks walked into the room. She stared at Remus in disbelief, thinking that perhaps she was hallucinating, before bursting into tears and throwing herself into his arms. As the werewolf’s arms wrapped around her, she felt the heavy despair that had weighed down on her since his disappearance finally abate.

“Thank Merlin you’re home, Remus. I thought you were...” She couldn’t voice that last thought aloud. It was too unbearable to think about.

“I almost did, love,” said Remus regretfully. “I was captured by Death Eaters to use as bait for Harry. They tortured me and finally used silver on me.”

Tonks flinched and held onto him even tighter. She’d come so close to losing him, she wasn’t letting go any time soon. “How did you survive?”

“Harry healed me,” said Remus simply. Before he could elaborate further, the rest of the household began to gather in the kitchen.

“It’s good to see that you’re alright, Remus,” said Arthur warmly as he sat down at the table.

Andromeda hugged her son-in-law with happy tears in her eyes. “Thank goodness you’re back. Poor Nymphadora has been worried sick about you.”

Tonks was so happy to have her husband back, she didn’t even blink an eye at the use of her full name.

“Tell us what happened, Remus,” Molly commanded.

“I was captured by Death Eaters when I went to Diagon Alley for supplies. I was brought before You-Know-Who and tortured for hours. That traitor, Pettigrew, shoved his silver hand in my chest at some point, and I don’t remember much after that,” growled Remus.

Remus took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “The next thing I remember is waking up at Hogwarts to the sound of cheers. Harry did it. He killed that bastard once and for all. He’s also the only reason I’m still alive.”

“What do you mean?” asked Molly curiously.

“Did you know that Harry was an Earth Drake animagus?” asked Remus wryly. “Yeah, neither did I. Well, as I lay there dying, Harry transformed into his animagus form and used his drake magic to heal me. There was a major consequence of doing so, however.”

“What happened? Is he alright?” asked Molly worriedly.

“Using the drake magic caused him to transform into a true Earth Drake. Harry’s no longer just a wizard,” said Remus softly. He then grinned at Molly. “He’s also pregnant and due in about four months.”

Molly gasped in shock. “Pregnant?” In the next instant, she smiled mistily. “My first grandchild. Oh, I can’t wait. There’s so much to do and only four months to do it.”

“Well, Bill should be relieved,” muttered Arthur. “Maybe Molly will give him a reprieve now that Harry’s expecting.”

Remus grinned at the other man and silently agreed. Molly had been relentless in her in demands for a grandchild from her oldest son. “I wouldn’t bet on it, Arthur. She’ll just say one grandchild isn’t enough.”

Arthur sighed in resignation. “Sadly, you’re probably right.”

***

Lucius apparated back to the safe house and hurried up to his bedroom. He smirked when he saw Severus curled protectively around Harry’s sleeping form. It was always amusing to him to see the formerly aloof professor so cuddly with their mate. Of course, he was also quite sure Severus was just amused to see Lucius in the same state.

“Severus, are you awake?” he asked quietly.

Severus scowled and reluctantly moved away from Harry, climbing off the bed and moving across the room with Lucius to keep from waking the teen. “What is it, Lucius?”

Lucius looked at Harry in concern. “How is he?”

“He’s exhausted,” said Severus softly. “He has more scales now, too.” He pulled the blond toward the bed and pointed to Harry’s neck. “You see the thin band around his neck? And there on his hips?”

Lucius reached out slowly and traced the emerald green scales around Harry’s neck delicately, making the teen’s eyes flutter open. Lucius’ own eyes widened in surprise. Harry’s eyes were even more vividly green with molten silver swirls near the now slit pupils.

Harry smiled sleepily at the blond. “Lucius, you’re back. Is everything alright?”

Lucius sat down on the bed and carded his hand through Harry’s hair. “Everything’s just fine. Your friend, Hermione, is a miracle worker. She somehow managed to convince Minister Shacklebolt to pardon both me and Severus.”

“What?” asked Severus incredulously. “We’re both free men? How in Merlin’s name did she manage that?”

The blond nodded and smirked at the vampire. “Officially, our pardon is for our participation in the Dark Lord’s defeat. However, I do believe the fact that we are mated to Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, also had quite a bit to do with it. After all, it wouldn’t be seemly for the Saviour’s mates to be carted off to Azkaban, now would it?”

Harry laughed softly. “Well, at least my fame is good for something.”

“Indeed,” said Severus. He looked down at Harry speculatively. “And how do you feel, Harry?”

Harry stretched languidly and smiled up at the vampire. “Wonderful, actually. And baby, too.” His stomach suddenly growled loudly. “Apparently, we’re hungry, as well.”

“Anything you want in particular?” asked Lucius.

Harry thought about it for a moment, trying to decide exactly what he wanted. He wanted a peanut butter sandwich, but he also wanted something tangy. He also wanted something salty and something sweet. “A peanut butter, cheese, and mustard sandwich. Oh, and a glass of milk, too. And maybe some honey and crackers.”

Severus looked at Harry in horror, shuddering in disgust. Obviously, the cravings were hitting with a vengeance, as well. Lucius manfully kept his own disgust well hidden and called for a house-elf. The house-elf nodded eagerly and popped out of the room, returning moments later with the pregnant drake’s meal.

Harry eagerly grabbed his sandwich and took a big bite, smiling happily when the tangy peanut butter hit his tongue. It was just what he wanted. When he finished his sandwich, he finally noticed that Lucius and Severus weren’t eating yet. Picking up a honey-coated cracker, he raised a brow at them.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked, popping the sweetened cracker into his mouth. Ooh, that was perfect- salty and sweet at the same time.

They both looked at Harry’s food and then down at their own before pushing their plates away. “We’re really not all that hungry,” said Lucius diplomatically. “After all, breakfast wasn’t that long ago. Besides, you need the food more to replace the energy used for your transformation.”

Harry shrugged and pulled their plates closer to him. “More for me then. You’re right, though. I feel like I’m about to starve.” He looked down at the two sandwiches thoughtfully before calling the house-elf back. “Can you get me some chocolate sauce and ketchup?” The house-elf nodded and quickly returned with the requested items. Harry slathered the chocolate sauce and ketchup on the two ham sandwiches and happily munched on them.

Once Harry was finished with his meal, he looked over at his mates with a grin. They were both studiously looking anywhere but in his direction. “Okay, I’m done. You’re free to look again.” He hadn’t deliberately tried to disgust his two mates with his food choices, but he did have to admit that it was funny to see their reactions.

Lucius looked at Harry in surprise, eyes widening in surprise when he noticed the clean plates. The teen hadn’t been lying about feeling starved.

Harry grinned sheepishly when he noted the blond’s incredulous stare and shrugged. “I told you I was starving, Lucius.”

“Indeed,” said Severus blandly. “I believe that I shall go and prepare a few nausea potions just in case, though. I’m sure I’ll need them over the next few weeks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Harry indignantly.

Severus paused at the door and smirked at Harry. “I’m just referring to your recurring morning sickness, Harry. What did you think I meant?”

Harry glowered at the vampire. He knew exactly what Severus was implying, and it had nothing to do with morning sickness. If he disgusted the other man that much, Severus could just sleep alone from now on.

Lucius saw the storm approaching and hurriedly intervened. “Could you brew some more pre-natal nutrient potions, as well? Harry took his last one this morning.”

Severus nodded and walked out of the room.

Harry turned his scowl toward Lucius. “Obviously, the sofa is looking more comfortable for you, too, Lucius.”

Lucius raised an eyebrow at his mate. “Now, Harry, there’s really no need to threaten to cut us off again. Severus was just teasing you, and you know it.” He saw on the bed and pulled a reluctant Harry into his arms, nuzzling the scales on the brunet’s neck.

Harry immediately melted into Lucius’ embrace, shuddering slightly when the blond’s moist lips caressed his new scales. Merlin, did they have to be so damn sensitive? A loud moan escaped him when Lucius’ hands caressed the scales on his hips, and he pulled the blond’s mouth to his in a demanding kiss.

Lucius broke the kiss and pushed Harry onto his back. Looking down at his flushed and panting mate, Lucius was humbled at the thought that this wonderful creature was his. And with thought in mind, he set about worshipping his most prized possession. He trailed his lips down Harry’s throat and chest, nipping lightly at a dusky nipple.

Harry hissed softly in pain. “Don’t, Lucius. They’re too tender for that.”

Lucius gently licked around the abused nubbin in apology, soothing the slight sting of pain he’d caused. He gently kissed his way down Harry’s torso, spreading loving kisses across the swollen expanse of the brunet’s stomach.

“Hello, son. Your Papa can’t wait to hold you,” he whispered against the firm skin.

Harry suddenly gasped at the rush of warm love and excitement that came from within. “Wow, that was intense. What did you say to him?”

Lucius smirked at his mate. “That’s between me and our son.” He moved back up the bed and kissed Harry on the lips. “I’ve got other things to share with you today.”

Harry smiled slightly. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

Lucius gave the brunet a predatory grin and grabbed the jar of lubricant from the nightstand. Unscrewing the lid, he held it out to Harry. “I want to watch you prepare yourself for me.”

Harry blushed and slowly reached for the jar. Harry made himself comfortable and spread his legs wide, giving Lucius a clear view of what he was doing. Dipping his fingers into the jar, he brought his slick fingers down to his opening, circling the rosette teasingly.

Lucius bit back a curse as he watched his mate slowly push a finger into his body. Merlin, Harry was beautiful like this. The brunet’s cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were dark with need. When Harry gasped sharply and arched his back, impaling himself further onto his fingers, Lucius couldn’t take anymore. He pulled the brunet’s fingers free and settled between Harry’s legs. Slicking his cock, Lucius slowly thrust into his mate, groaning softly at the tight heat surrounding his shaft.

The slow pace was driving Harry crazy. He wrapped his legs around Lucius’ waist and pulled the blond into a passionate kiss, moaning appreciatively when his mate thrust hard. “More, Lucius.”

Lucius rolled them over so that he was on the bottom. “Take what you want, Harry.”

Harry lifted up slowly and dropped down hard, crying out when the new position caused Lucius’ cock to his prostate. Soon, Harry lost himself in the deep, pounding thrusts, feeling his release just out of his reach. Then Lucius wrapped his large hand around Harry’s shaft, fisting the flesh in time to their thrusts, and Harry was sent over the edge.

Lucius growled and thrust up sharply, releasing his seed into his mate. He reluctantly pulled out of the brunet and rolled them over so that he was curled around Harry. “Get some more rest, love.”

“Stay with me?” asked Harry drowsily. He was too comfortable to move, nestled as he was in Lucius’ arms.

“Always,” Lucius promised.