Union of Three

Union of Three

Chapter 9

“Gimme,” said Harry, snatching the locket out of Ron’s hand. He carefully searched the locket for any inscriptions before finally opening the locket. “This is it, Ron,” he said, seeing the SSS inscribed on the inside.

“How could you forget about the locket, Weasel?” asked Draco snidely. “You do realise the importance of that thing, right?”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” yelled Ron angrily. “It’s not my fault I got distracted. I was scarred for life when I saw Snape’s bare arse in the library.”

“Why you little brat,” snarled Severus, going for his wand. Dougal snatched it right out of Severus’ hand before he could curse the redhead.

“Besides, while you were off shagging Harry, I was in the basement searching for that locket. It’s not like you helped in any way,” said Ron rashly.

“And a great shag it was, too,” said Draco smugly, smirking as Ron got even angrier. “You would not believe how tight-“ He couldn’t say anything else because Harry had cast a silencing charm on him.

“That is enough, you two,” said Harry, glaring at Draco and Ron. “We do not have time for your petty squabbles, so if you don’t have anything productive to add, keep your mouth shut.”

“The kitten really is a little lion, isn’t he?” Dougal asked Remus, who just nodded silently. “Little lion, now that you have the locket, what do you plan to do?”

“Little lion?” asked Ron disgustedly. “You actually let them call you ‘kitten’ and ‘little lion’?”

“It’s not really a matter of letting them, Ronniekins,” said Harry irritably, deliberately using the twins’ pet name for their younger brother. “They don’t really give me a choice. Dougal is particularly stubborn. It seems that no matter how many times he gets hurt as a result, he just cannot resist calling me those pet names.”

“Kitten, the horcrux?” asked Dougal with a cheeky grin.

“What happened to ‘little lion’?” asked Harry petulantly. Harry set the locket on the table and pulled his wand. Drawing on the full extent of his magic, he blew the locket apart, effectively destroying the horcrux housed within. Of course, he also blew the table and part of the wall apart, as well. As the dust finally settled, he gave a sheepish grin. “I overdid it a bit.”

“A bit?” asked Ron incredulously. “Harry, you almost blew the house apart.”

“No, I didn’t,” said Harry defensively. “Just the table and part of the wall.”

“You are more powerful than I realised, little lion,” said Dougal. “This battle should prove interesting.”

*****

“Report, Korbin,” hissed Voldemort.

“I have been unable to locate the Potter boy, milord,” said Dougal quietly. “I did feel a strong surge of magic in the London area, but I couldn’t find the exact location.”

“Keep looking, Korbin,” hissed Voldemort. “I want him brought here by the end of the week. Go now.”

“Yes, milord,” said Dougal, bowing to Voldemort. As he stalked away, he smirked as Voldemort cursed Avery for failing in his task. He saw Nagini slithering into the woods, and his smirk widened. “Kali, take that snake to the little lion. I’ll make my own way back.”

/Yes, Master Korbin/ said Kali, shimmering into the forest. She landed on Nagini’s back and they disappeared.

*****

Harry yelped when Kali appeared in the living room, carrying Nagini. “Kali, what are you doing here?” He quickly grabbed his wand and stunned the snake before she could attack any of them. “Where is Dougal?”

/Master Korbin had a meeting with the snake man. He ordered me to bring this snake to the ‘little lion’ and he would find another way back/ said Kali, landing on Harry’s shoulder.

Malise decided that she would come out to investigate as well. \\Master, what do you intend to do with the snake?\\ she asked curiously.

“Well, we have to destroy the horcrux housed within her, but I’m not sure if I can do that without killing her in the process,” said Harry quietly. “Do you have any ideas, Lucius? Snape?”

“What about a soul purification spell or ritual?” asked Hermione from the doorway. “That would remove anything that doesn’t belong in Nagini.”

“Hermione, when did you get here? Where have you been all this time?” asked Harry quickly.

“I’ve been locked in my room, trying to recover from a headache incurred by a certain Potion’s Master and a werewolf. Of course, now I hear that their passions run a little differently than before,” said Hermione, smirking at Remus and Severus. Severus just turned his nose up at her teasing while Remus blushed a fiery red at the reminder.

“Do you think that spell would also work on a wizard?” asked Harry, getting back on topic.

“Why do you ask, Harry?” asked Hermione, staring at Harry intently.

“Because what if he succeeded in pushing a bit of his soul inside my one year old body?” asked Harry with utmost seriousness. “That could also explain the link between the two of us, right? Maybe it’s not just because it’s a curse scar. And quite frankly, I would rather not die in the process of trying to save the wizarding world. I have plans with my life.”

“Those plans better include us, Harry,” said Draco arrogantly, placing a possessive arm across the elf’s shoulders. “I still have several fantasies involving your cooperation.”

“We don’t need to hear about your perverted fantasies, Malfoy,” said Ron quickly.

“Are you sure? I have this one fantasy with Harry bent over the table-“ said Malfoy. Harry muffled the rest of the sentence with his palm.

“That’s enough, Draco. Keep it up and you’ll never experience that fantasy,” said Harry quietly. “Now, Hermione, do you know any good purification spells or rituals? They need to be pretty strong if we expect to purge out essence of Voldemort.”

“I can think of two, but I need to research a little more before we decide on anything,” said Hermione, already heading towards the library to begin her research. “I’ll call you if I find anything.”

“What if the purification ritual doesn’t work?” asked Severus quietly.

“Then we find a way to kill me long enough to dispose of Voldemort and hopefully revive me afterwards,” said Harry calmly.

“WHAT?!” yelled Lucius, Draco, Remus, and Ron.

“What do you mean find a way to kill you?” asked Lucius angrily. “There will be no killing my mate. We’ll just have to find another way to defeat the Dark Lord.”

“Yeah, what he said,” said Draco firmly. “I’m sure we can think of something else.”

“You can’t just roll over and die just because the ritual doesn’t work, mate,” said Ron reasonably. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I’m with the Malfoys on this one. We’ll find another way to kill him.”

“I don’t want to stay dead,” said Harry calmly. “But can’t stop my heart long enough to appease the prophecy and kill Voldemort, then restart my heart? Muggles have this thing called a defibrillator that jolts the heart into beating again.”

“We’ll discuss this more in private, Harry,” said Lucius crossly. He nodded towards the still stunned Nagini. “Right now you need to find a cage for her before the stupefy hex wears off.”

“Oh, I saw one of those in the basement too,” said Ron quickly. “I’ll be right back.”

*****

Once Nagini was safely secured, Lucius and Draco dragged Harry into their bedroom. “Please tell me that you are not actually considering this alternate plan of yours,” said Lucius worriedly. Harry stubbornly remained silent. “Do you really hate us that much that you would condemn us to a life of loneliness, and that’s if we survive your death?”

“I don’t hate you, Lucius,” said Harry earnestly. “I don’t want to die either, but it may be our only option. Believe it or not, I want to live a long life and have lots of kids and a real family. But I can’t do that until Voldemort is gone.”

“Yeah,” said Lucius quietly, thinking back to the conversation he’d had with Dougal before Harry and Draco completed their bond. “What if you’re already pregnant?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Harry curiously. “The book I read said that elves have a yearly breeding season, but I don’t think we’ve reached mine yet.”

“I think you should let Severus cast a diagnostic spell just in case,” said Lucius quickly.

“Fine,” sighed Harry. “If it will make you feel better to know that I am not in the family way, then by all means, call the bastard in.”

Lucius immediately called for Severus, and Harry simply climbed onto the bed and got comfortable while they waited. “What is it now, Lucius?” asked Severus irritably as he entered the room.

“I want you to run a diagnostic spell on Harry,” said Lucius calmly.

“Please tell me you didn’t impregnate the boy right before we go into way,” said Severus crossly. Not giving Lucius a chance to answer, Severus stormed to the bed. He cast the diagnostic spell and waited for the results. Severus breathed a sigh of relief when the results showed no sign of pregnancy. “You’re in luck, Lucius. Harry is not pregnant.”

“Oh, thank Merlin,” said Lucius quietly. “Thanks, Severus. I don’t suppose you know when the breeding season begins, do you?”

“There is no set breeding season for elves,” said Severus. “It just varies from elf to elf. One elf’s season may start June 2 while another’s may start November 1. The only thing that doesn’t vary is the length of the season, and that lasts for ten days.”

“How do you know when the breeding season starts?” asked Harry, covering a wide yawn with his palm.

“Well, the day before the season starts, you’ll get really irritable. You’ll also be tired and a bit lethargic,” said Severus, staring at Harry intently. As Harry covered another yawn and settled deeper into the bed, he gasped in realization.

“Well, thanks again, Severus,” said Lucius, steering Severus towards the door.

“Lucius, wai-“ said Severus, talking to the door as Lucius shut it in his face. “I just thought you might like to know that I believe Harry’s season starts tomorrow,” he said quietly before stalking off.

*****

“Your dad’s not gonna hurt Harry, is he?” asked Ron worriedly. Lucius had looked pretty angry when he dragged Harry out of the living room.

“No, Weasel,” said Draco exasperatedly. “Harry is our mate. We aren’t going to hurt him.”

“But your dad looked really angry,” said Ron quietly.

“Of course he’s angry,” said Draco reasonably. “Weren’t you a little angry with Harry for even suggesting we kill him?”

“You have a point,” said Ron grudgingly. “I still can’t believe he told us to kill him long enough to defeat Voldemort. I don’t care if there is a way to revive him afterwards.”

“Exactly,” said Draco proudly.

“I wonder if Harry is feeling all right,” said Ron musingly. “He was kinda irritable today, but that may be because he was tired. It was a little odd to see Harry sitting in your father’s lap so calmly.”

“Well, he has had an eventful last few days,” said Draco logically. “He came into his inheritance, found his mates, and completed two mate bonds within the last week, so I can see why he would be tired.”

“Another point,” said Ron. “The world has officially ended. I just agreed with Draco Malfoy twice.”

“Shut up, Weasel,” said Draco. “I’m going to bed.”

*****

Dougal shimmered into the room with Kali perched on his shoulder. He stared wistfully down at the bed, seeing the little lion wrapped snugly in his mates’ arms. Smelling something different about the elf, Dougal snickered softly when he realised what that meant. “It looks like we’ll have to postpone the final battle. The next few days should be very interesting. I believe I’ll go pay our resident Potion’s Master a little visit.”

Dougal found Severus in the kitchen drinking tea alone. “I need you to make some contraceptive potions and have them done by morning,” he said bluntly.

“Yes, I figured as much,” said Severus calmly. “No need to worry, I have a batch cooling as we speak.”

“Good,” said Dougal cheerfully. “That’s one less thing we have to worry about. So, what else happened while I was gone?”

“You mean besides the fact that Harry suggested we temporarily kill him to destroy the horcrux that may be inside of him? Nothing much,” said Severus sarcastically.

“He did what?” asked Dougal incredulously.

“He asked us to temporarily kill him if the purification ritual didn’t work,” said Severus.

“How do you temporarily kill someone?” asked Dougal curiously. “And what purification ritual? I swear, I’m not leaving again. I miss too much when I leave.”

“Miss Granger suggested a purification spell/ritual to destroy the horcrux within Nagini. Harry asked if it would work on wizards as well because he believes that the Dark Lord managed to transfer part of his soul into him when he tried to kill him the first time,” said Severus quietly.

“Okay, that explains the purification ritual part,” said Dougal, “now what about the temporary death part?”

“Harry mentioned something about muggles having a defrigebrator, or something like that, that could send a jolt to the heart to make it start beating again. So basically his heart stops and we use a defrigebrator to start it back up,” said Severus, shrugging slightly.

“That’s a dodgy plan,” said Dougal. “I don’t see Lucius or Draco going for it.”

“Me neither,” said Severus. “Well, I have several contraceptive potions to bottle and deliver, so I bid you good night.”

“Good night, Severus,” said Dougal quietly.