The Prince and the Slave

Part 26

Prince Harry Potter walked among the sea of white tents, nodding at the various soldiers sitting around fires as he walked by. He was on his way to the command tent to go over the plans for tomorrow’s battle. They had been away from home for over six weeks now and even though he only new his husband for a short time he still missed him greatly.

Sighing to himself he stopped out side of the command tent and nodded to the two guards who had escorted him, before entering the tent. The tent itself was one of the biggest. It was a couple of stories high and one could easily fit a cabin inside, and was broken off into about 3 different compartments. Turning to the left he pulled the flat aside and stepped into the room.

The room was pretty bare. One of the main pieces of furniture that it had was a round table and some chairs. Currently the round table had a map on top of it with his father and his generals above it, pointing out several things. He let out a small cough to make himself know.

It was King James who noticed him first. He gave a smile to his son. “Ah Harry, there you are. We have been waiting for you.”

Harry had the decency to look ashamed. He was over half an hour late, but he couldn’t leave the post center until he knew for sure that Draco had not sent him a letter. He had been worried as well as anxious to find any news of Draco's expectant pregnancy. “I apologize for being late; I was at the post center.”

James nodded his head. He had figured as much. Harry spent a lot of time there the last couple of days hoping to receive a letter from Draco. To tell the truth even he was getting anxious to know. “Any news?” He didn’t need an answer. The dejected look on his son’s face said enough. “I am sure we will here from him any day now. In the meantime, please join us.”

Harry walked over to the table and looked down at the map. It was a map of the 5 kingdoms. There were marks all over it, showing troop locations, especially in Slytherin. The country of Slytherin itself is in the shape of a long S. Probably one of the reasons it got its name. He watched as Sirius brought his finger down to point at a spot on the map.

“As you can see we are here, twenty miles west of the capital of Slytherin.” He waited a moment to make sure everyone saw where he was pointing. He moved his finger a little to the right. “Here is where the Enemy army is at. They are directly between the capital and us. We are to meet them in a valley two miles from here tomorrow morning.” He sat back to see if there was any questions.

James looked at the map a moment before turning to Remus. “Remus can your scouts tell us of its size?”

Remus scratched his head and looked down at some papers he had brought. “Our best estimate is 45,000. With a mixture of Calvary, foot soldiers, and archers.”

James nodded his head. “Sirius what is the estimate of our army’s strength.”

Sirius let out a sigh. “That’s one problem. Our strength is around 37,000 men, much fewer.”

“Where are the armies of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?”

Remus pointed to a spot at the north and then a spot at the south. “They are on our flanks. Ravenclaw is in the north. They engaged an army there and won, but lost about 10,000 men. They control the northern ports and trade center. In the south Hufflepuff is marching towards the lowlands and farms, trying to block any food from making it outside the area. So far they have not met any stiff resistance.”

James stroked his chin. “So we are not going to able to get any help from them. We will have to do this alone.” He turned once again to Remus. “Is the enemy army composed of any Slytherin?”

Remus nodded his head. “It appears that there are currently 15,000 Slytherin’s opposing us. Our army consists of around 7,000.”

James looked at the map. “If there was only a way to get them to come to our side.” He let out a sigh. He knew it was no use. They had already tried several times to get the favor of the rest of the Slytherin army, but it was to no avail. He was about to move on to another subject when one of the guards entered the room. He stood up straight and looked at the man. “Yes?” Immediately all eyes were on the soldier.

The soldier bowed down to the king. “My apologize my lord. I know you did not want to be disturbed, but an urgent message has arrived for the prince. I know he has been most anxiously waiting, so I decided to rush it right over.”

Harry had only heard the first half of what the soldier said before he rushed over and grabbed the letter out of the soldiers grasp. Once he noticed whom it was from he gave the guard a big hug, much to the amusement of the others and the shock of the guard. Harry thanked the guard and waited for him to leave. He just stared down at the envelope in his hands.

King James and the rest had watched Harry stare at the envelope for about 5 minutes before Sirius said something. “Well, are you going to open it or not?”

That seemed to snap Harry out of his thoughts. He quickly unsealed the envelope and started reading the letter. The others in the room watched the prince’s expression the whole time, trying to get a clue as to what the news was. After only a few minutes they got their answer. Harry broke out into one of the biggest grins imaginable and let out a loud laugh. He looked everyone in the eye before speaking. “I am going to be a father.”

This got chuckles from those in the room. Remus could help but tease. “My god Harry, you knocked up your husband within a week?” Remus was glad to see Harry’s face turn red.

Sirius saw the redness in his godson’s cheeks and couldn’t help himself. He started walking towards Harry. “Harry Potter and his super sperm.” He saw the shocked look take place upon his godson’s face. He saw the laughter in the kings’ and Remus’ eyes. He nodded his head at them. “Yup, Harry Potter and his super sperm.” Then he had a quick thought and broke out onto a small song. “Harry Potter and his super sperm. See it swimming here and there. Seeking.. Gakk!.” Sirius felt a body crash into his and he found himself sprawled on the ground with his godson straddling his chest.

Harry gave Sirius a heated glare. “Stop it Sirius.”

Sirius let a small chuckle. “Alright little prongs… Alright.”

Harry slowly got off his godfather. He was embraced by the arms of his father. He turned and embraced him back. He knew that they would celebrate tonight. It would give a perfect morale boost to the troops.

………………………

Prince Harry Potter looked out upon the soon to be bloody battlefield. The place itself was actually a small valley. Gryffindor held one side, while the armies of Slytherin and the Dark Kingdom held the other. He knew that soon many good men would die. He surveyed the troops under his fathers’ command. The Gryffindor troops were dressed in red and gold, his country’s colors. In the front line the soldiers were dressed in the Green and Silver of Slytherin.

It was an ongoing argument between his father and Severus. The king had finally conceded and issued orders that allowed the Slytherin troops that had joined Gryffindor to be the front line troops. The insisted that they be the first into battle so they could help to liberate the country. The news of Draco’s pregnancy only helped to infuse a strict loyalty and a since of pride with them.

Both armies had spent last night celebrating the news of the pregnancy. His father had been a little worried that it might wear down the soldiers, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Despite their forces being out numbered, the moral was very high. On the other side of the battlefield it appeared that the Slytherin troops were also the front line soldiers of the dark army. The only difference in the uniform between the enemy Slytherin’s and their allies was a white piece of cloth that was wrapped around their upper arms. Behind them was the army of Lord Voldemort, dressed in Black and White.

He was brought out of his observations by his father’s voice talking to Dumbledore. “Albus, did you place the spell on Harry?” Albus gave his long gray beard one stroke before nodding his head.

“Yes your majesty. I have set the spell so that it will transport the prince a mile away if his life gets in any mortal danger. Sadly this is the farthest the spell will transport.”

James nodded his head and looked at his son’s frowning face. “Harry, I know you did not like the spell being placed on you. It is for the greater good. You are my heir and you have a child on the way. Promise me that if this battle turns bad that you will ride towards Gryffindor and not look back.”

Harry saw the pleading in his father’s eyes. This was a long argument that they had been having the whole time they had been in slytherin. Harry did not want to desert his father, but had finally conceded. He nodded his head. “I promise father.”

The king was about to respond when he saw Sirius riding towards him with Remus. They were the top two generals of the Army of Gryffindor. They were soon joined by Severus. He had been appointed as General of the Slytherin portion of the army. He rode over so that he was next to Harry. “Prince Harry, I have something for you from Draco.”

This immediately got Harry’s attention. “What?”

Severus reached into his chest-plated armor and pulled out a small bag, handing it to Harry. “Draco wanted you to have this when you went into battle.”

Harry carefully opened the small bag and turned it upside down. He was surprised by what fell out. It was a lock of his husband’s hair. He grasped it in his palm and brought it up to nose and took a deep breath. He could smell Draco’s scent upon it. He carefully placed the lock of hair in his uniform so as not to loose it. He then looked at Severus. “Thank you.”

Severus nodded his head and turned back towards the king. “Are you ready?” James nodded his head and motioned for the rest to follow them. Sirius picked up a white flag and rode just ahead of the king to show as a sign of truce. Together the 5 of them rode out to the middle of the soon to be battlefield. They were joined shortly by the congregation from the enemy army, which only consisted of two men. One wore Silver and Green while the other Black and White.

The two sides stared at each other until the king started talking. “I am King James of Gryffindor. To my right are Generals Black and Lupin in command of my forces and General Snape in charge of the Slytherin army.” He then nodded towards Harry. “And this is my son, Prince Harry.” No one missed the glare that was shot at both Severus and Harry by the slytherin general.

The General wearing Black and White spoke for the other side. “I am General LeStrange and this is my Slytherin counter part General Gregory Goyle.”

James nodded at both of them before getting down to business. “I am offering you and your army the chance to leave in peace. Move away from the path to the capital and promises to fight no longer in this war and we shall spare you.”

General LeStrange let out a rough laugh. “You must be joking. I came out here for your surrender. You are grossly out numbered. Your allies to far away to assist you, and to top it off a good portion of your force are traitors.”

At the last comment Severus could hold it no longer. He glared at General Goyle. “You are the traitors. We are serving the rightful heir of Slytherin.”

Goyle for his part was not intimidated. “And what heir is this. A Potter? You would have us give our country to the likes of them. They are only waiting a time to dispose of Prince Draco so they can keep both countries for themselves. This farce marriage is just one step in that direction.”

Severus knew he had one piece of information that the traitor did not. “Prince Draco is with child.”

Goyle only had shock on his face for a few minutes before turning his head away. “It matters not. All that matters is Slytherin will be better with the Dark lord as our leader.”

King James felt his stomach sink. He had half hoped that the enemy army would take his offer and disperse saving many a life. He looked towards General LeStrange. “Is this your feeling as well?”

The general gave the king a cruel smile and nodded his head. James let out a sigh. “Then our armies shall meet this day to decide this for us.” With that the King led them back to their army.

Once they were back James turned to Ron, who had just joined them. “Ron, I want you to promises me that you will watch Harry for me.”

Ron nodded his head. “With my life sir.”

The king and the generals were in fact behind the army, and would not take in personal combat unless needed. But in the event that things turned bad they would be needed. James looked once more out onto the battlefield before bowing his head and offering a prayer. The others joined in. Once done James look to Sirius. “Archers!”

Sirius yelled out for archers and the order was passed down through the army. An entire row of soldier quickly came to the front of the lines. They were a mixture of Gryffindor and Slytherin. The all ready their bows and aimed, awaiting the orders from the king to fire.

James looked once more to the enemy army seeing their archers read as well. Lightly under his breath he spoke to Harry. “So it begins.” He then yelled out to the army. “Shoot.”

As one both armies let their arrows fly. The soldiers quickly ducking behind their shields in a vain effort to protect themselves. The arrows passed each other in the air, some colliding and falling to the ground due to the sheer numbers. When they were about 100 feet from hitting their troops Albus walked forward and raised his staff. With a quick word lightning shot out of the staff and collided with most of the inborn arrows, vaporizing them. The few he didn’t get fell into the ranks of their soldiers causing little causality.

The enemy had no such protection and the Gryffindor arrows found their target. It looked as if hundreds of the enemy had fallen. James quickly issued the order for the infantry to advance while the archers continued to pour arrows into the enemy. Harry watched as the two sides came closer and closer. Their soldiers, now out of the range of Albus’s ward were now taking heavy causalities. Once they two armies were 100 yards apart the arrows stopped, as neither side wanted to hit their own troops.

Harry counted down the yards as the two sides came at each other. At 75 yards the two armies broke out into a run. Harry watched and waited for the two to meet. It was like two giant waves racing towards each other. He was shocked though when the gap narrowed to around 25 yards when the enemy Slytherin’s abruptly stopped and turned around before into the dark forces.
Harry stood their shocked. The Slytherin’s had joined their forces. All of them. They were now turning against their supposed allies. The Gryffindor army had stopped in a moment of confusion but the Slytherin’s at the head of the lines continued on, as though they knew this would happen. They quickly jointed their brothers in the battle. After a short pause the Gryffindor army followed suite.

Harry could not believe this turn of events and judging by the look on his fathers face it was a shock to him as well. King James turned a disbelief look towards Severus only to be met with an amused smirk. Shaking his head he turned to his son. “Harry, there is an old saying that my father told me once. Never underestimate a Slytherin.”

Harry took the knowledge to heart, well aware that his husband was a slytherin. He knew that his husband could be sneaky at times. He turned his attention back to the battle. It was practically a massacre. With their own allies turning against them the Dark Army was retreating. The door now lay open to the slytherin capital, and from there, started the invasion of the dark kingdom.

TBC…