Never A Memory

A/N: OMG, I feel like such a tool after all that talk of being inspired and now the chapters are pumping out. I had THE WORST case of writer's block EVER when I settled down to write this chapter. I think my muse is telling me its asexual self doesn't like to be discussed or bragged about. Alright, I'm humbled.

And then...duhn, duhn, duhn, I GOT INSPIRED after watching a Family Guy marathon and then stumbling headfirst into the Death Note fandom. *squeels in fangirly delight* There is this one-shot on this AFF site...wait...*rummaging*...GOT IT...called "Conquest Reversed" by Kyo-chan under Anime--Death Note on page...hold on...on page 5 that just...Christ...blew me away. Check it out AFTER looking up some basic stuff on the anime so you can at least appreciate the context of the fanfic. But...even if you're just itchin' for a good slash lemony delight, go to it right away. RIGHT AWAY! I would even forgive you if you waited to read the update to read that one first, IT'S THAT GOOD.

Just don't tell me. I don't want to know. Just, just....

Anyhoo, it kicked me back into gear and I was able to whip this up in a flash. Finished it this afternoon. Enjoy!


P.S. Can you believe I am actually pulling inspiration from STUIE, the sadistic infant, from Family Guy to write Blaise's character?! Christ...



~Underground~

Sailing the Atlantic...
***

Blaise Zabini hated going underground. He hated it with all the Pureblood passion he could muster.

He hated forcing himself to mingle and mix in with Muggles on this cursed cruise liner. He hated the groveling Squib for a ship captain that was indebted to him. He even hated the little iced shrimp and cocktail sauce a Muggle waiter was now offering him on a silver tray. Blaise's lip curled in disgust before he could force himself to be gracious. He knew a dozen filthy Muggle hands must've already pawed all over them.

There were three words that separated him from the rest of this Muggle filth. Three words.

Swish. And. Flick.

And no one knew it better than he did.

But true friends were hard to come by in Pureblood Society and Blaise Zabini had only one.

Trust, of course, that his luck bid it be Draco Malfoy.

The Pureblood Pearl, Slytherin Prince, obnoxious, utterly luckless, snob, Draco Malfoy.

Blaise shook his head at the waiting server, dismissing the man, and leant against the railing from where he stood on the starboard deck of the cruise liner taking him swiftly across the Atlantic. Blaise closed his golden eyes and concentrated on how the sea-spray felt on his face. He couldn't remember exactly when they had morphed from shallow alliances into best friends, but...sometime between second and third year, it did. It had been the most relieving point in both of their lives when they had realized they trusted one another implicitly. No lies, no half-truths, no need to prove anything. Even most married couples in Pureblood Society didn't have that luxury.

Blaise trusted Draco with his very soul and vice versa. And nothing less powerful could ever compel him to go 'Underground'.

So here he was, headed west over the Atlantic to collect Maximus Cure and the Inversion Enchantratem. Blaise opened his eyes. One thing he couldn't puzzle out was why Harry Potter continued to put his ass on the line for Draco. Blaise had an entire childhood of friendship to uphold. But Harry Potter? If nothing else, he had an entire childhood of animosity to do otherwise. But as far as Blaise could tell, Potter's intentions were authentic. Ever-tormented and victimized, but authentic.

Blaise peered across the ocean as the wheels turned in his mind until they creaked noisily from the lack of inspiration.

Secretly, he wished Bellatrix Lestrange had never confided in him.

And if it came to it, Blaise hoped that Harry Potter would be able to kill Draco and destroy the demon growing within him; because, honestly, he didn't think he could ever turn his wand against his best friend.

More than that, he hoped that it would never come to that, and one day, all of this would be just a bad memory. Something to store away and gather dust.

Blaise Zabini really and truly wanted Draco to survive this.

He closed his eyes against the brilliance of the endless sky meeting the endless ocean, thinking maybe he was fool to hope at all.

~*~

"What?" Blaise demanded, leaning against the doorframe of the Captain's Quarters where that blasted Squib had summoned him. Captain Whistle blanched at the sour glare the bronze-skinned, golden-eyed, irritable Wizard regarded him with. He hated--HATED--the idea of any Wizard, let alone this particular one, being aboard his ship. Especially since so many suspected Death Eaters had been reported using Muggle aid to hop away from the island of the UK. Adam Whistle wanted no part of any of it. But he owed Blaise Zabini a boon, and one he surely couldn't ignore.

He wish he could. But he couldn't.

Captain Whistle sucked in a breath, steadying himself, and motioned for him to come inside. Blaise shut the door behind him with a flick of his fingers. Whistle felt the shift in the atmosphere, knowing instantly the Wizard had used magic, and felt a fresh wave of panic wash over him. Wandless magic! Since when had Zabini grown that strong?

"Well?" Blaise's golden gaze sharpened as his irritation grew. Stupid, blabbering, worthless Squib. Well, maybe not completely worthless. The mutt had his usefulness.

"Wedocktomorrowmorning," Whistle let out in a rushed voice.

"Sorry?" Blaise raised a brow. "Didn't catch that."

Whistle took another breath. "We dock tomorrow."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "I know that, Captain."

"We leave again in three days."

A muscle twitched in Blaise's jaw. "It'll take two just for me to reach Wisconsin. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Well, yes," Whistle said, becoming nervous. "If you travel the Greyhound out of New York."

Blaise blinked.

"The bus," Whistle clarified.

Blaise snapped his fingers, comprehension dawning. "Oh, yes. The large contraption on wheels."

"Indeed," Whistle nodded. "But it would only take you a few hours if you traveled by airplane--"

"Out of the question," Blaise grated. "Muggles were never meant to soar the skies. And to suggest a wizard should travel with them as a passenger? You're mad."

Whistle took in another deep breath. "We will leave the harbor Sunday evening at 5 pm sharp, as scheduled--"

"You will wait."

"And will sail to Florida, as scheduled--"

"You will wait--"

"I will not!" An unseemly vein bulged in Whistle's neck and his hands trembled so badly he had set down his tea cup, but he kept his voice firm. "You asked me to take you to America, and because I was sailing for New York anyway, I consented. But these passengers have paid large sums of money for this cruise--many of whom couldn't really afford it in the first place--and I will not squander their vacations or work to lose my JOB on your account!"

"It is a shame I didn't think so selfishly when you begged me to keep you disloyalty to Lord Voldemort a secret in his most trying hour," Blaise murmured, his voice like honey.

Whistle turned red. "You--"

"And when he was defeated, It would have been so easy to turn you in as one of Voldemorte's dogs to clear my own name."

"Mr. Zabini--"

"Perhaps I shouldn't have. Perhaps my mistake could be remedied. How much DO you enjoy your life, Whistle?"

"Please don't--"

"You will wait."

"I CAN'T!" Whistle wiped the beading sweat from his balding forehead. "You don't understand how it works with these Muggles. If I refused to sail, they would replace me and then how would you return to England at all?"

Blaise leaned down until he was nose to nose with the trembling Captain. "That, Whistle, is the million pound question."

"I...I...I...know a man with a boat..."

"A boat." Blaise straightened. "I'm listening."

"He'll take you back."

"Who?"

"Simon Heil."

"When?"

"Whenever you'll need him. I'll introduce you to him when we dock. I have his number right here..." Whistle rummaged through his desk drawer and pulled out a small book with numbers and addresses scribbled inside.

"That means nothing to me," Blaise stated, crossing his arms.

"I'll contact him and set up the appointment. He's trustworthy. For enough money, you can trust him to do anything."

"How much money?"

Whistle hesitated. "A bit."

"A bit." Blaise rolled his eyes. "Fine." Abruptly, Blaise snatched Captain Whistle's collar and shook him, his golden eyes blazing dangerously. "If you prove false, and this Muggle does not do as commanded, so help me Merlin, Azkaban will seem like your mother's womb after I get through with you."

Whistle swallowed, knowing the Pureblood meant every word.

~*~

Blaise stared at the slop of food on the plate someone had just handed him and gulped past his gag reflex. Perhaps it would have been better after all to never have befriended Draco Malfoy. This was cruel and unusual torture, it was. Twenty-seven hours on that blasted Greyhound already had cramps worked into his body where muscles he didn't even know existed screamed and burned at the raging injustice of pure discomfort. His stomach growled for food, but he couldn't force himself to eat anything Muggle-worthy. And, Merlin!, he was tired.

And he was only half-way there.

"Personally, I think it's wonderful that the owners here are proud of their faith," a woman said conversationally next to him, pointing at a crucifix hanging on the far wall with her fork. "I was raised Catholic myself and it helps to be reminded to say grace before eating. I forget too often."

"Oh, yes, nothing says 'eat up!' like a bleeding Jew nailed to a piece of wood (1)," Blaise replied grumpily, pushing his plate away and plainly ignoring any further comments from the Muggle woman.

Simon Heil proved to be a grave, sturdy fellow, quiet and intelligent. Blaise liked him instantly, as far as Muggles went. Even so, he secretly spiked the man's water with Veritiserum before they made their arrangements to make sure he was truthful about the whole ordeal. Blaise would take no chances at being stuck in America with a criminal stowaway. Blaise glanced at the slop Muggles called food and couldn't think of anything worse.

One more day and he would arrive in Madison, Wisconsin.

~*~

It was raining lightly when the Greyhound stopped in Madison City. Blaise couldn't get off the bus fast enough. Once free of the stifling Muggles, Blaise began to pull out the map that would show him through maze of building and to the entrance Delphie Avenue, where it would to the Wizarding Town of Madison. Pausing, his hand halfway to his pocket, Blaise felt the prickle of his skin and followed the pressure of collective magic down block after damp block, realizing he needed no map to locate the border of Delphie Avenue. Then circling around one intense brick wall, Blaise finally pulled out the map, finding the key to unlock the entrance.

Once through, Blaise sucked in a deep breath of magical air and headed straight for the nearest pub. He needed untainted food so badly he was dizzy with it. Maximus Cure could wait one more hour.

~*~

U.S. MLED Madison, Wisconsin. Muggle Affairs...
***

Salene, their sweet-faced secretary, knocked quietly on the door to Williams and Byrne's joint office. "Come on in, Sal," Williams called, closing a file and pulling his propped feet from the top of his desk.

"You have a visitor," Salene informed them, poking her head in. She hesitated. "He's asking to see Maximus Cure...and he's English."

Byrne straightened and Williams jumped to his feet. They exchanged a long glance as Salene shut the door behind her.

"Great," Williams muttered.

“Yeah.”

It had been weeks since discovering that Maximus Cure had been behind the Inversion Enchantratem attack against Draco Malfoy; and after deducing Harry Potter, Death Eaters, and a suspicious character calling himself ‘The Gatherer’ being involved, the U.S. MLED had decided it prudent to close their Apparatal Borders to prevent anymore of England’s Ministry of Magic’s problems to spill over onto American soil. They had also assigned Maximus Cure to remain under Williams and Byrne’s care indefinitely at the Muggle Affairs Division in Madison, Wisconsin. Transporting him was decided risky until the so-called Gatherer was found and penalized by the Ministry of Magic.

However, since the closure of their borders, the U.S. MLED had heard little to nothing on the Malfoy Case’s progression. It was decided that any news would not be forthcoming until the Ministry had completely neutralized any brewing threat. Sending over important information would be even riskier than moving Cure to their Wizarding Prison.

So, in fewer words, Williams, Byrne, and the rest of the U.S. MLED had been left utterly in the dark.

Williams had thought it was a ridiculous decision to shut down the Apparatal Borders. Not only did it cause unease in the other Wizarding Communities in countries around the world, but it left them uninformed, and therefore, vulnerable.

Byrne understood the decision better, even if he didn’t agree with it. The nearly catastrophic panic that their nation underwent when Voldemort had risen to power so few years ago was a wound the U.S. MLED was still healing from and they were taking no chances. But still…

It really was a tad ridiculous.

Was the Ministry sending someone over to tell them all was well? Byrne thought it extremely unlikely. Not unannounced. They wanted something…and something they probably had no authority to give.

They met with the Englishman in an unused conference room for maximum privacy. He was purebred, and what was worse, he knew it too. Williams curled his lip in distaste before offering him a seat. The man frowned and offered his hand, letting it hang in the air as he waited expectantly for the two detectives to shake his hand politely.

Byrne stepped forward first and shook the man’s hand firmly, Williams following suit shortly after. “My partner, Detective Williams,” Byrne introduced. “And I’m Detective Byrne.”

“Blaise Zabini,” the Englishman replied in a clipped aristocrat’s accent. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

Williams looked away as he rolled his eyes and sat down. Zabini took a seat and then Byrne followed suit.

“How can we help you, Mr. Zabini?” Byrne inquired.

Zabini gazed at Williams before returning his attention to Byrne. “I am sure there are certain niceties that must be observed before making a request such as I am about to; however, I am unfamiliar with them. So I’ll get right to the point.”

“Please do,” Williams muttered rudely.

Zabini’s gaze sharpened again on Williams, his patience already beginning to slip. “I’m here for Maximus Cure.”

Byrne exchanged a long glance with Williams. “Why?”

“I have learned that he is vital to keeping a dear friend of mine alive and am here to retrieve him.”

Williams snorted. “You’re giving us no reason to do so.”

“I’m not sure how much information I am at liberty to disclose.”

“Without any dignified reason to release this criminal, Cure will stay happily in his cell,” Williams said.

Blaise unmasked a withering glare. “Do you know what the Black Tulpa is, Detective Williams?”

Byrne swore under his breath and Williams looked confused. “What is it, Byrne?”

Byrne glanced at his partner. “The mother womb of all evil,” Byrne replied darkly.

Williams chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Okay,” he said slowly.

“You’ve heard of it then?” Blaise asked Byrne, interested.

“After my father served in the Muggle World War II, he told my mother of an oppressive presence that hovered over the battlefield,” Byrne said quietly. “My mother was a Witch who studied Ancient Mysteries and was convinced it was Maul, the Black Tulpa; feeding on the death and despair those wars brought.”

“Feeding?” Williams asked.

“Yes, a Tulpa is condensed energy and Maul grew fat with everything dark and evil. It was rumored that it grew so strong, it learned how to think.”

“I never knew such a thing was possible,” Williams said.

“It is,” Blaise said, returning to the point, “and it is trying to possess the body of Draco Malfoy.”

Byrne sucked in breath. “No…”

“Yes,” Blaise said sternly. “We’ve weakened him with the Markaghirelle and his Gatherer is dead—“

“Dead?” Williams interrupted. “How? Who was he? Why wasn’t he put on trial?”

Blaise stared at Williams for a moment before answering, a strange expression flickering across his bronze features. “Draco Malfoy apparently didn’t think he needed one. The Gatherer died by Malfoy’s own hands the night he tried to aid Maul in taking over Malfoy’s body.”

Williams whistled. “Didn’t know he had it in him.”

“The Gatherer was a man named Cruent Mantle. Truthfully, his identity is unimportant next to the fact that without him, Maul has to struggle to complete the Hosting of Draco Malfoy.”

Byrne nodded. “So why do you need Maximus Cure?”

“The Inversion Enchantratem. We’re certain it can pull Maul from Draco’s body long enough for us to fight it.”

“How?” Byrne demanded. “With what?”

“Respectively, Detective,” Blaise said, a flash of white teeth revealing a wily grin. “You don’t need to know that.”

“The hell we don’t!” Williams retorted, rising to his feet. “If that thing gets loose—Merlin! It almost did, didn’t it? The Gatherer paid Cure to use the Inversion Enchantratem on that guy once already, Byrne. He was trying to get it out of him.”

“We think it was an attempt to possess Maul himself,” Blaise agreed.

“There is no way we would let you get your hands on a way to set that thing loose,” Williams said.

“It’s not to set him free,” Blaise replied calmly, his golden eyes glittering. “It’s to destroy him without killing Draco Malfoy.”

“You people are out of your mind,” Williams declared. “This man is not worth—“

“Watch your tongue, or I swear, I will hex it out,” Blaise growled dangerously.

Byrne stood and placed a restraining hand on his partner’s arm. “I’m sorry, Mr. Zabini, but I’ll have to agree with my partner on this one. Your mission here was ill-advised and we have no proof that you have any jurisdiction to even be here and making these claims. And now you are threatening my partner. Releasing Maximus Cure to you is out of the question.”

~*~

To Be Continued...
***

A/N: (1): That line I stole directly from Family Guy. The British, sadistic baby said it. Thought it was hilarious. Had to use it.


Lilith: Ha ha, thanx for your review! Hope you enjoyed the update!


thrnbrooke: Truly, truly, truly; I love your reviews. So perceptive! And you always get right to the most crucial point! You'll have your answer in a chapter or so. Thanx for your review and hope you enjoyed the update!


Jan: Good point, Jan. Harry really is hard-headed, isn't he? Thanx for the review and I hope you enjoyed the update!


Anna: No worries! It's great to get a review at all :). Thank you for such a great review! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!


Mangacat: Hey, thanx for the review and offer for help! I sent you this looooooong email with all the details of the chapters concerning their trip to Germany. Did it ever get to you?

LOL, yeah, I've always thought it be fun to write some drabble between the two and now I finally can! Hooray!

Yes...Harry...He's gettin' there, he's gettin' there...

Again, thanx for the review! Email me any time at shinigami_liason_nefie@yahoo.com


genxter: " I love the irony of him being this big hero but not able to swagger about it. I like that you kept Draco's edge, not have him melt into this crazy Harry worshipper. " BINGO! *cackles and dances in a circle* If there was anything I was trying to accomplish, it was that. THANK YOU! Thank you for such a great review! And, yes, I really, really, wanted to make sure characters like Ron, Hermione, Snape, Blaise, and Pansy weren't just backround props. Thanks again! And I hope you enjoyed the update!


kalaway: Thank you so much for your review! If you ever have any questions about details, feel free to ask. Sometimes I have a habit of breezing over important stuff to dig into fun angst or quirky dialogue and many readers have already asked for clarification on things. It's a weakness I have in my writing.

Ah, yeah, well reviewers are the meat and potatoes of this story. The least I can do is respond to reviews when readers take the time to place them for me. :)

Thanx again and I hope you enjoyed the update!


shadowama: There! Earth-shattering ordeal abated. For now. I hope you enjoyed the update! Sorry it was so long in coming. Thank you for reading and reviewing! *huggles*


hpobsession: Ha ha, thanx for your review! I hope you enjoyed the update!


KittenCeleste: WOW, another new reader! Welcome to the story! Thank you for your great review! I hope you enjoyed the update!


Leentje: Welcome to the story! Thank you for your amazing review! I hope you enjoyed the update!


chandrima: ANOTHER NEW READER! Jack pot! Thank you for your review! Cool. Yeah, I find in my personal life that when things begin with sex, feelings develope quite diferently than when a relationship begins with affection and sex is added later. I wanted to use the former with the Harry and Draco dynamic to keep their relationship interesting. I didn't want them to get boring to read. That's the one thing that makes me quit reading long fandom stories so often. The thing that interested me in the story in the first place blew its fuse in the first ten chapters or so...and then I have to sit through another thirty+ chapters? So, knowing I was churning out a fifty or sixty chaptered fanfic based on a non-canon relationship had me pondering ways to keep readers actually reading it. Cautious feeling developement was one of them. Brilliant deduction, by the way. I don't remember anyone else bringing that up.

Keep on guessing, I'd love to hear them, too! Thanx again for your review and I hope youenjoyed the update!


WanderingUnicorn7: Thank you! Um, if you leave you email address, and pester me to remember to notify you when I update in your reviews, I certainly will. Replying to reviews is ritually the last thing I do before post the newest update. If I'm reminded, I'll do it for sure. But I've forgotten before, earlier in the story because I am just so damn forgetful. :P I hope you ejoyed the update and thanx for your review!