Warriors in love

Bèta’d by Vittani.
If you find any mistakes, they are mine.

I’ll be here, when you call me

The next day Draco woke feeling anything but refreshed.
He hoisted himself off of the bed and went outside in search of his parents.
This was the day Draco had to leave the Realm and go looking for his mate.
He found Narcissa sitting at the Elder’s table with Eve.
They seemed to be having a disagreement and Draco caught the phrase “…need to go, you know?”
He walked towards the two women and cleared his throat.
Eve looked startled, but Narcissa looked ill.
“Mother? What is wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Draco asked worried.
She shook her head and said she had a slight headache.
He knew his mother wasn’t telling the truth, but dropped the issue when he saw Eve shake her head at him.
“I wanted to say goodbye, before I left” he said in a sad voice.
He saw her eyes, there was sadness in their depths and he felt a sharp pain in his chest when she turned her gaze away.
He would miss her and his father dearly.
Before he could say anything, his father appeared and said;
”So, you are on your way then, my son?”
Draco could only nod, not trusting his voice at the moment.
“Take this” his father said and handed Draco a small handbow and a quiver.
“You might need it someday” Lucius said, knowing full well ‘someday’ might be sooner than anyone would think.
Draco thanked and hugged his father, gave his mother a kiss and nodded at Eve.
He wanted to leave before he started to cry.
How he had waited to see his parents again, only to leave them again so soon.


Gabriël came to guide him back to the Watcher and said he would come if Draco ever needed a friend or some advice.
No matter where Draco was, Gabriël would hear him.
The young prince looked at the older elf and thought to himself that the offer sounded strange.
Little did Draco know, that Gabriël was to be his guide through the emotional changes that were bound to surface at some point.
Upon reaching the tree they said their goodbyes and Draco thanked Gabriël for his help.
“It comes with the territory” was the cryptic response, before the older elf disappeared.
Draco shrugged and left the Realm, feeling like he was missing a part of himself after stepping through the barrier, but less tired then a few moments ago.
He felt a tug in the pit of his stomach and followed the pull.
It had to lead somewhere, right?


*********************************


Harry was in the office of Professor Snape again, looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks.
Tomorrow was his birthday, but he wasn’t in a festive mood.
There were too many questions running through his mind.
Questions that kept him up at night.
And he wanted answers, right now.
“Professor, if what you told me is true…” Harry started, but was cut off by the Potions Master with one single question.
“Why, of all people, did you come to me for answers?” the man asked softly.
Harry thought about his answer, already knowing where the Professor was going with this.
“Because, Sir, you have never tried to sugar-coat anything. You are known for your brutal honesty and that was what I was counting on” Harry said truthfully.
The professor nodded and asked “Why then, would you question if I was being truthful with you, with what I told you before?”
“It is not that I question your honesty, not really. But…but…you? Being my father?
And James Potter was really my stepfather? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?
Why didn’t you come for me, when I was living with those horrible muggles?
Do you know how they treated me?
Didn’t you think I needed a dad, like any other kid? Do you hate me that much? WHY?” Harry shouted out the last question, hurt evident in his eyes, tears running down his cheeks.


“Harry…I was always led to believe you were treated like royalty, when you lived at the Dursleys.
I wasn’t allowed to have a look for myself.
And with Voldemort on the loose, I could not risk visiting you without someone knowing where I went. What do you think would have happened, if he’d found out about you?
Do you not think it pained me, when I saw you in your first year? And all these years since?
Every time I looked at you, I saw your mother’s eyes and thought back on how I loved her, I still do. When I arrived in the Wizarding World, Albus found me. I was broken hearted.
I had to leave the love of my life and my only son. They needed to find a life without me.
Your mother was an elf by birth too and queen of our Realm.
Because I am the king, I still am the Heir of White Elm and we are still at war with the Realm of Blue Oak.
If one of the warriors of Blue Oak had found you or Lily, you two would have died, make no mistake about that. And Albus, noticing my loss of will to live, made me his perfect weapon.
He talked me into accepting the Dark mark and turned me into a spy.
James was a friend of mine, who I encountered during a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix and I asked him if he was willing to look after your mother and you.
James said he would be proud to do so and took the both of you in
We agreed we had to act as if we hated each other, so that eventual enemies of our Realm would not pick up on you being around.
Your mother had a terrible time, doing as she was supposed to.
She stayed kind and loving. She couldn’t act like she hated me, nor could I do that to her” he said sadly.

After a pause he continued “James, your mother and I changed some aspects of your physical appearance. The changes will last till the morning of your seventeenth birthday, but till that day the changes would ‘grow’ with you. Never mind about the details of that, let it suffice to say they worked even better, then we thought they would.” The dour man explained to Harry.
“But if the two Realms are still at war, how come you and Mr. Malfoy did not fight?
Why didn’t he try to stop you or kill me?” he asked confused.
“Try to understand we were living in the Wizarding World.
Old feuds and such didn’t matter here.
And Lucius and I had been friends, before we left for this world also.
Lucius said we could to stay friends, I am his son’s godfather after all.
He even took the dark mark, so he could keep an eye on me.
Our friendship was always very tight, although it was hard to maintain it.
We were told to stay away from each other by our Elders.
Neither Lucius, nor I, believe in this war.
It is petty and vindictive for no other reason than one Realm wanting to rule the other.
That is why we had to leave our world, it became too dangerous to be amongst our own people.” Severus said in a grave voice.


Harry dried his eyes and sniffed, he didn’t know what to think anymore.
So he was a “light elf”? A…what was the name again? Ah yes, “Lys Elvere”.
He was the next Heir of a Realm he never even heard of before.
He was pre-destined to have a lifelong partner, which he knew nothing about. He had another name, Talynd, which sounded way more cool than Harry by the way. And to top it all off, the “Elders” of their tribe demanded to see him, otherwise the throne would become forfeit? Like he needed more attention!
Harry said as much and was quite miffed when the Professor started to chuckle.
“What? Do you think I like being in the spot light? Sorry to break it to you Father, but the opposite is true” Harry said a bit vindictive.
He saw the older man’s eyes narrow a bit at the way he said ‘father’ and had to bite his lip to stop from laughing.
“If you are done, Son, I would like to perform a ‘mind-fusion’ with you” Snape said in clipped tones.
“Mind-fusion?” was Harry’s stunned question.
“It is a way to teach you all you need to know about our race and it’s rules, laws and culture.
It takes about four hours to do so and all I show you will stay in your head, as if you had learned it from a young age.
I have to warn you, though. The procedure is quite unpleasant and it drains energy.
Therefore we need to go to Madam Pomfrey and do the ritual in the infirmary.
It is all set up, we only need to go there” he said a bit more pleasantly.
Harry nodded without questioning the man and they floo-ed to the ward.


*****************************


Poppy had been waiting for the two men and set to work right away.
She ushered them to two beds, placed a tray of vials on a bedside table and closed the curtains,
after putting an alarm spell on them.
That way she would know when the two came out of their trance.
Severus made Harry sit on one of the beds and sat himself down on the other.
“Harry, do you know how to meditate?” he asked softly.
Harry nodded his head and the professor told him to clear his mind, while closing his eyes.
“Listen to my voice, let me guide you. If you have a question, think of it and the answer will come to you. Find your inner self. You should see a light, deep down. Do you see it?”
Harry saw a pulsating purple glow and nodded.
“That’s the one. Concentrate on it, now sit down in front of that light and let the images just float through your head” came the voice of his Professor.
It sounded a bit hollow, but the familiar sound calmed Harry.
All of a sudden there were some bright flashes in Harry’s head.
He wanted to turn away from the painful intrusion, but before he could do so, he saw the flashes disappear and instead saw some people standing where the flashes had been.
The flashes had given him a severe headache, but this ‘place’ felt nice.
The people were friendly and welcoming.
They looked strange though.
A bit like Draco looked, when Harry last saw him.


Draco…a sharp pain went through Harry’s chest when he thought about the beautiful young man.
“Do not dwell on that emotion, Harry” came the voice of his professor in his head.
Harry reluctantly turned away from the image of Draco and saw a forest, with silvery trees.
Silvery trees? Now that was strange, but he would have to ask about that later.
He looked at the canopy and saw what looked like bridges made of rope between the trees.
He liked those. Turning his head a bit, Harry saw the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen.
They did not exsist in either the muggle or the wizarding world, Harry was sure of that and the grass…it was so very tall and soft and deep green.
What is this place?
“That is the Realm of White Elm, Harry. It is your home” Severus said.
Harry saw elves dancing around in a clearing in the forest.
He saw elves courting.
There were elves bowing before a group of people sitting at a high table in the middle of an open space in the forest.
Who are those people?
“The High Council” came the immediate reply.
And with the reply came an explanation on what they did, why and how.
The images came faster and faster.
There was an image of his mother in a beautiful emerald green dress.
She wore a gold tiara in her hair and sat on her knees in front of a group of Elders.
He started to hear voices, greetings, both formal and informal.
He noticed they were speaking a language Harry did not recognize, but it still sounded familiar.
“Elvin” said his professor and as a warm gush of air flowed through Harry, he understood what those people were saying.
“Cool” was Harry’s thought and his professor commented dryly “Indeed”.

One voice became very clear and Harry heard the man say;
“Queen Goldenwind, do you accept the position of Highest Council, what is your reply?”
“I accept the position of Highest Council and will henceforth be known as Mother” Harry’s mother said, tucking her hair behind her ears, so they could see the telltale points on them.
Harry was still struggling with the fact that his mother had been a queen, when he heard other voices.
There was a female voice saying something about a rule of not speaking one’s elven name, until bonded with a bloodmate, whatever that was.
The question didn’t even get the chance to form completely in his head before he got an explanation about bloodmates and the rituals and rules of bonding with one.
There was a bonding ceremony and it was a thing to behold, with all the elves standing around, music playing softly and children’s laughter sounding like little silver bells.
Harry realized it was his parent’s bonding and was thankful he at least had some kind of memory of his mother now.
Another image appeared and Harry saw his mother sitting down at the table, with his real father next to her. They were staring at some older elves and he had the feeling much more was being said, than he could understand.
“They are speaking through a mind link. Through thoughts, if you will”
A flash and Harry saw an enraged Severus declining the throne, stating he was too young to take on that big a responsibility.
There was a demand of attacking the other Realm, Lily refused the demand and was attacked herself by their own warriors.
The attack had been unsuccesful, but they had not been safe at the Realm, anymore.
Then the planning and fleeing from the Realm, his mother being ‘bonded’ to James, which wasn’t real, it seemed and then the images stopped.

Harry knew he got everything he needed from the Potions Master and made his mind calm, to return to the infirmary, when all of a sudden he saw a mythical creature from the corner of his eye.
He turned around and saw a dragon as white as snow, with golden eyes.
The dragon looked right at him and started speaking.
“Welcome, young prince. I am the Watcher of your Realm. My name is Malae.” She said warmly.
All of Harry’s knowledge kicked into high gear, he bowed and said formally “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mighty Watcher Malae. My name is Harry Potter”
The dragon seemed very pleased with his manners and answer and said she would grant him one wish, for he had answered in the correct manner and showed his respect to her.
Harry answered he wanted some time to think on it and asked if there was a time limit on the wish.
When the dragon said there wasn’t, Harry was relieved.
He really didn’t know what to ask for, yet.
He asked Malae if there were any other beautiful creatures like her and the dragon looked at him sadly.
“No, young prince. I am the last of my kind. I will live for another thousand years, but then I and my kind cease to exist”
Harry was shocked…he was thinking hard on how to help the dragon, but couldn’t really think for long, he was too exhausted.
“I have to go now. I do hope to see you soon, though, oh Wise One” he said to her.
“You will, Harry, you will. Should you need someone to talk to, call me and I will answer” she replied softly and she was gone.
Harry felt it was an odd thing to say, but didn’t dwell on it.
He needed to get back to the Wizarding World.
Harry left the Realm and became conscious of his surroundings again.
He felt like he was run over by the Night Bus.
He wanted to speak, but fainted on the bed and Poppy rushed over to administer some potions.

Severus had been conscious for some time already and was worried Harry would be stuck in his own mind.
He was about to re-enter the dream state, when Harry sat up, opened his mouth to say something and fainted.
He feared something like that would happen, but it was imperative that Harry knew about the Realm.
There was no other way to let him know in the short amount of time they had.
Harry would change tomorrow and Severus was nervous as hell.
He really did not know what to expect.


*******************************


Draco was running again, being pulled by an invisible force.
He was actually starting to get tired and his emotions were running amok inside his heart.
He knew he had to fulfil whatever it was his parents and Elders expected of him, but how would he know?
What if he did unintentionally encounter a human, who smelled like his mate?
Draco already knew the answer to that question, but he didn’t have to like it, did he?
The memory of two emerald green eyes flashed inside his mind, Harry!
Draco felt all warm inside, when he thought of the ‘Boy Wonder’.
His heart constricted when he remembered he wasn’t allowed to see the young man.
It was against the elven laws.
Draco cursed and sat down on a boulder to think about what to do next.
Before he could make his mind up, he felt the pull again, much stronger this time.
Was his mate near? Could it be? The blonde stood up and ran as fast as he could…only to find himself on the grounds of Hogwarts again.


“What the hell?” he ground out, unable to understand what had happened.
“This is ridiculous. I need to see Dumbledore” he thought to himself.
He sent an image and heard the thrill of Fawkes answer.
Good, he was glad the headmaster had time for him.
Draco went into the castle and flew up the stairs.
Trying to regain his composure, he stood in front of the gargoyle and thought of how to enter.
However, the gargoyle slid aside and he could enter without a problem.
He knocked on the door and entered, without waiting to be invited in.
“Ah Draco, how are you feeling? I must say I am surprised to find you here” the headmaster said,
his eyes twinkling merrily.
“Hello Headmaster, it surprises me too, I must admit. It seems I am being pulled towards the castle.
I do not know why though” Draco said pensive.
He didn’t want to sit down, because he really didn’t know how he would react if he got a scent from the headmaster.
The professor seemed to understand his reluctance and said “Don’t worry Draco, I made sure you will not attack me. Although I do not know everything there is to know about your race, I am not in the habit of putting myself on the spot, so to speak.”
Draco snorted and the headmaster chuckled, saying “Well, not all the time, I mean”
The old wizard looked thoughtful at Draco and offered the young man a lemon drop, which he refused.
“Draco, could it be that someone in this castle smells like your mate?” Dumbledore asked curiously.
Draco pondered the question and shook his head resolutely.
“That is not the way ‘the pull’ works, Sir” Draco said.
“Only my mate sends me a beacon, which feels like someone is pulling me towards a destination. Could it be my mate is in this castle?” he asked softly.
How he hoped it would be true.
He might still have a chance, even though a small one, that it was Harry.
“Well, my boy, if your mate is here, I know nothing about it. Maybe your godfather knows?” the headmaster offered.
“Yes, he might” Draco said happily and he ran out of the office without as much as a thank you, leaving behind a chuckling Albus Dumbledore.

******************************


Next…”The Change of Harry” dundundun
Okay, I’m being silly, but if you are still with me, you will love this (I hope)