Disclaimer: Any and all characters and the world to which they belong do not belong to me. Established, yes? Good, moving on.
Author's Notes: Two hours into 2003 and I'm still up writing. Pretty good way to start the new year although a kiss would have been nice, too. I hope everyone else had a sexier celebration;) As always, I very much appreciate all the feedback on this story. Also, as a side note, this story is now also available at www.portkey.org, although I will still keep updating here for the time being. If you're looking for a few Harry/Hermione stories that go beyond the hand-holding routine that's almost too racy for this site nowadays, check them out. Take care everyone, and have a happy new year!
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An Organ of Fire
by Kristen Elizabeth
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"All right, Severus." Lupin threw an accusing glance at the man. "How do we deal with this?"
"This" and a simple hand gesture to indicate it were hardly sufficient to refer to the obstacle that had successfully stopped the three wizards in their quest. A bramble of deadly sharp thorns, some big enough to slice a man in half and others small enough to slide underneath a single layer of skin, stretched from the misty edge of the moor all the way up the slope to the front door of Malfoy Manor. Combined with the rain of the thunderstorm that cloaked the moon's light, it was a challenge not to be taken lightly.
Snape blinked rain out of his eyes, frowning. "This was not here the last time I was."
"It's new," Harry spoke up, fingering the scalpel-sharp edge of one long barb. "Put here for a single purpose." He ignored the thin ribbon of blood that ran down his palm. "To keep me occupied."
Lupin didn't need to speculate on the reasons why Malfoy might want to keep Harry busy for as long as possible. There was little doubt that the younger wizard had gone over all the things that could possibly be happening to the woman he loved a million times; he didn't need any help there. Licking his wet lips, Lupin looked up at the house, so close and yet so far away. "So..." he began.
Harry withdrew his wand from his dark green robes. "Diffindo!" The branches closest to him split in a flash of sparks, creating a narrow passage through their midst. He looked back at his companions. "We go in anyway."
He took the lead with Lupin following him and Snape taking up the rear. As best he could guess, the house lay a half-mile away, a ten minute walk if not for the irritating jungle of thistles. He had no plan beyond getting through it as unscathed as possible, but all too soon he realized he would have to form one. The thorns grew thicker and all too soon he had completely lost sight of the manor and the one square of light coming from it.
Apparently noticing his hesitancy in the series of spells and charms that kept the branches open in front of them as they walked, Lupin tapped Harry on the shoulder. "We're getting somewhere, Harry, but it's nowhere near to where we want to be."
"Diversionary spell." Snape's voice trailed on the storm's strong winds. "He'll have you going in circles around the house but never getting any closer."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Draco's memory is getting weak. I've been in a maze before." Without any fanfare, he placed his wand flat on his palm and it held it out in front of him. "Point me."
With the makeshift compass and Lupin taking over the spell-casting in Harry's place, the trio slowly made their way closer to Malfoy Manor.
"It's different than I remember," Snape said a minute later. "The entire manor...it had a friendlier air to it."
"Friendly?" Harry couldn't hold in a soft snort. "The Malfoy's home? I have a hard time believing that."
The Potions master brushed hair out of his eyes. "You wouldn't understand. The Malfoys were hardly a perfect lot and they certainly weren't anything resembling nice, but they were a family. And in their own peculiar way, they kept a home, just like a family. I felt welcome here with them. On false pretenses, certainly. They thought I was still loyal to...him." He took a breath. "All I'm saying is that it's different now. Reductor!" He blasted away a sharp branch that was inching its way towards his neck. "I can feel it."
"Basically, the place has gone to the pits since Lucius kicked it?" Lupin's irreverent summary almost had Harry laughing in spite of himself.
Snape was not quite as amused. "You wouldn't understand," he repeated.
Minutes passed in silence. Snape was sulking, Lupin was fighting errant thorns and Harry was too busy concentrating on his wand as it led them closer to the dark house. Finally, the last branch was blasted out of the way and nothing lay between them and the towering, impenetrable oak and iron of the manor's front entrance.
"Do we knock?" Lupin asked Harry.
As if they were listening, the doors opened out to them without any prompting or human aid. There was a moment's pause as the men got their first glimpse into the dense darkness of the Malfoy home.
"Apparently not," Harry replied. His wand still drawn and ready, he took a step inside. "Be prepared for anything. He's not about to make this easy for me."
****
"I'm going to make this easy for you." With one fluid motion, Draco swung his legs off the arm of the large chair in which he had been lounging and stood up. He approached his frozen captive with the same fluidity in his stride. "It must be absolutely killing you to be unable to speak. And while I enjoy that...and the silence..." He waved his hand; Hermione's mouth fell open. "We're running out of time." He snapped and her whole body experienced the same freeing sense of release. "I can say many things about him, but Potter is not an idiot."
"He never has been." Her voice was dry; she moved her limbs experimentally as she spoke. "You've always underestimated him, Draco."
Agreement was the last thing she expected, but he nodded his head to indicate it. "Perhaps I have. But no longer."
She stared at the back of his blond head. "End this, Draco. It's petty and childish and...pointless. Harry and I just want to live our lives...like normal people. There's no cause for any of this!"
"There's where you would be wrong, little Mudblood."
"I have a name and you know it perfectly well," Hermione informed him. "I'd appreciate it if you would use it."
Draco chuckled. "Haughty to the end, I see."
She felt the movement in the shadows before she saw it; a moment later, Sirius appeared at Draco's side. Hermione wanted to run to him, slap his cheeks, snap him out of it...whatever it was. But to do so would have been foolish. She waited while the two men discussed something in hushed tones.
"What have you done to him?" Hermione asked when Sirius moved off again. "Tell me."
"Actually, I had something much more interactive involved than simply telling you." Draco's eyes gleamed. "You're thinking Imperius, aren't you?"
She wet her lips. "It had crossed my mind."
"Despite what the older set likes to believe, a seventh year student these days can throw off the Imperius if they have enough sense. Such is the result of war on children," he sighed, too dramatically to be sincere. "No, I have placed no curse over Sirius Black."
"Just let him go," Hermione whispered. "He's never done anything to you. For that matter..." She swallowed. "Neither has Harry."
The cold stare Draco turned onto her froze her blood more than his Petrificus. "You have no idea." As soon as it had vanished, his cat-with-a-fat-bowl-of-cream smile appeared again. "You expect him to burst in at any moment, don't you?" Her upturned chin answered for him. "Oh, he will. Be assured of that. But not until I'm good and ready. And when he does...let's just say I intend to have quite a surprise in store for him."
"What kind...what kind of surprise?"
Sirius brushed past her arm; Hermione blinked and looked at him. He was carrying a flask of something which he handed to Draco. "From one scholar to another...is there anything more satisfying than creating a potion? All the hours of work, measuring, stirring, waiting, anticipating, testing." He held the flask up to the light. "And then the ultimate satisfaction when it works and your goal is achieved."
"I'd hardly call you a scholar," Hermione commented under her breath.
Draco dropped his arm and advanced on her. He smelled like incense, a cloying scent that made her eyes water. "And I'd hardly call you worthy enough to judge any real wizard." His free hand shot out and he grabbed her jaw, puckering her mouth open.
Hermione struggled, but was quickly subdued by Harry's godfather. He held her motionless from behind as Draco used his teeth to uncork his mysterious potion. "Come on. Take your medicine like a good little Mudblood."
She attempted to whip her head from side to side, making it as difficult as possible for him. "No!" she cried out, the words muffled due to her distorted lips. "I can't...."
"You truly don't have a choice." Draco tilted the flask; the thick liquid inside began sliding towards the open end.
Hermione watched the potion advance towards her mouth, wild fear in her eyes. "Please! I can't have any..." She stopped. The rock and the hard place. Caught between them, unable to tell him why she couldn't drink just any old potion, she continued to struggle to get away. "Stop!! Sirius...please!!! Don't let him do this!!!"
"He's not Sirius Black anymore," Draco growled, losing a bit of his cool. "And he never will be again."
"What do you mean?" Her tears made her cheeks slippery; he had to fight to keep a grip on her jaw.
"You'll know soon enough. But when your own personality is stripped away, you won't really care. And Harry, the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Wouldn't Fucking Die....he'll find a whole new Hermione when he arrives."
Her eyes grew even wider. "Your potion...alters entire personalities? Makes people..."
"Into who *I* want them to be. It gets inside your gut, shakes everything up. A complete makeover from the inside out...and I'm at the drawing board. Now..." Draco released her face, but only long enough to backhand her across the mouth. From the shock of the blow, Hermione's struggles ceased. "Open wide."
****
"It's too quiet." Harry's voice bounced around the vaulted hallway ceilings. "And too easy."
Lupin sighed. "Well, now you've gone and ensured that the rest of the way won't be. Good show, Harry."
The wood of his wand was slick against his sweaty palm as Harry grimaced. "It doesn't make any sense. He puts up a wall around his fortress, but then lays out the welcoming mat? Just what is he thinking?"
"He's playing with you," Snape answered. "Give a little, take a little back. Put up a fight, ease up. And it's working. You're confused and your confusion will keep you off guard."
"Your vote of confidence is, as always, overwhelming." His eyes closed for a moment. "I want to be able to sense her. But I can't."
"He'll lead you to where she is. It's what he's brought you here to..."
"Will you stop that!?" Harry burst, rounding on the older man. "Talking like you teach bloody Divination. If you know so damn much about Malfoy's moves, why aren't you in the lead here?" He pointed to the beaker of potion secured to Snape's waist. "Why don't you tell me what else you know? Useful information, not premonitory babble."
Snape dropped his hand down to the beaker. "I hope against hope that what's in this jar won't have to be used. And until it's absolutely necessary..." He paused, neither for effect nor hesitation. "There are some things you should be thankful you don't know about."
"Knowing anything at this point would be strategically advantageous," Harry shot back.
"Not. Until. It's necessary."
Lupin pulled on the sleeve of Harry's robes. "It pains me to break up a long overdue fight, but I think you should know....we're not exactly alone anymore."
Harry whipped his head around. "What is it?"
"All around us. Look."
"I see...antiques," Harry replied. "Armor, family portraits, crests. The Malfoys are more Muggle than they'd like to..."
Lupin grabbed him, pulling him out of the way as the suit of armor closest to Harry suddenly advanced, bringing a heavy silver sword crashing down onto the exact spot where his head would have been. All around them, the typical fixture of a hundred English castles were inanimate no longer, waging their own little war against the three wizards.
"Battle plan, Harry?" Lupin's back was now pressed to his companions'.
"Reductor!" He blasted away one empty, yet alive suit of armor. "That'll work for now."
Snape followed with a similar spell. "It won't work for all of them. There's easily forty." Even as he spoke, in the place of the suit he had deal with, two new ones materialized. "Double that."
"It's just another diversion," Harry called out over the sounds of Lupin's charm. "I have to get to Hermione."
"Then...go, Harry." Lupin jerked his head towards the path they had been following. "We'll deal with this and you get to her."
Harry hesitated, blowing away another three suits while he thought this over. "I can't just leave you two."
"Harry, I've seen a lot in my lifetime. An army of armor I can handle." He smiled at James' son. "We'll join you soon."
"I don't know about this..."
"He wants you alone. You know this," Lupin's tone was grave. "We can take care of ourselves."
Snape nodded and raised his wand. "Impedimenta!!" The suits slowed for a moment, caught in suspended animation. It was the few seconds Harry needed to escape and he took them without looking back. If he had, he would have seen a wayward sword catch Lupin in the shoulder.
He ran, to where he knew not. His only thought was to keep moving, lest another suit of armor appeared, or some other obstacle of Malfoy's choosing. If Snape was right, Malfoy was leading him straight to Hermione. If his instincts were right, he needed to get there immediately. And if the pain from his scar was any gauge, it would be a battle to rival his final encounter with Voldemort.
****
It tasted like decayed flesh. Rotten meat. It was warm and gelatinous. And it was sliding down her throat bit by disgusting bit.
Hermione gagged, spraying a healthy amount of the potion back onto the man forcing it into her. Draco leapt back; she took no small amount of pleasure in watching him recoil.
"It's no good," he warned her, brushing off his robe. "I have time at my fingertips. Enough of it to force this whole thing down your pretty little throat."
She continued to cough, still held in place by the stony Sirius Draco claimed to have concocted. Her heart pounded beneath her breast. Just how much had gotten into her stomach? She had no idea, and no idea what it would really do to her....or to her baby. It could be a ruse; it could simply be poison meant to kill. Was that the surprise he really had in store for Harry? Her dead body greeting him in front of the fireplace?
"Black fought me, too," Draco continued. "It took nearly a whole day to get it into his system. As a dog, he has quite a set of teeth. But you..." With his thumb, he wiped potion off her lips and chin. "...have no defenses left. And until I make it so, no one is coming to your rescue."
"Harry is coming," Hermione choked out the words with all the conviction left within her. "I can...feel him. I know him. And he's coming..."
Draco's fingers lingered on her skin longer than necessary. "He's certainly trying. He beat my garden, left his flunkies behind to fight my army." His lips twisted up into a wicked grin. "But there's no getting past the past."
"Please..." Her eyes shut, spilling hot tears over his hand. "Don't hurt him."
"It won't be me hurting him." Draco lifted the potion bottle and seized her chin once more. "I'll leave that up to Harry Potter himself."
Hermione fought as much as she could, but the repulsive goo was forced into her mouth despite her struggles, and all thoughts were pushed out of her mind.
****
Harry rounded a corner, his wand drawn and ready. Nothing was going to catch him off guard, confused or not. Although he would admit to being confused, he would not admit to what he really was and that was very, very lost.
Malfoy Manor, he quickly surmised, was not a good place in which to lose one's way. There were a hundred corridors and they each looked exactly alike. But there were no more signs of moving armor, so that was at least a mild blessing. In fact, for the past ten minutes, Harry hadn't seen anything moving, except for his own reflection in the occasional mirror.
He was beginning to wonder if this was another obstacle in itself.
But as he came around that particular corner, Harry's entire reality suddenly changed. The world spun around him, colors and shapes molding into different colors and shapes. Before he could blink, he was no longer standing in a torch-lit hallway, but a large, airy room done in soft, muted florals. He heard giggling and turned, brandishing his wand.
A four-poster bed. Clothes strewn every which way on the carpet around it. Gauze curtains only half-drawn, concealing nothing. And between the matching floral sheets, the two people he had loved most in his entire life.
Making love. Together. Ron and Hermione.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it. Because it had all already happened.
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To Be Continued