28

241Chapter 28

"Oh god," Dracka gasped. "You had sex."

Severus turned to the vampire with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, I mean…" Dracka trailed off. "No that's what I meant. You stink of Blake's magic. He's going to have to sort that out before we get to the compound."

Severus had been waiting in the entrance hall for everyone else to arrive when Dracka had appeared.

"Which I will," Blake said limping closer, holding out another pendant on a leather cord. "Lean forward Dracka."

Dracka looked puzzled but did as ordered and Blake looped the cord over his head, the vampire shivered and looked at the pendant with wide eyes.

"Don't let it touch your skin," Blake snapped as the vampire reached for it. "It's made with pure light magic so it will burn you."

"What is it?" Severus asked.

"It will allow him to walk in the sun," Blake replied with a smirk. "It will only last a week. So, you better work on your tan quickly, Dracka."

"Ha, ha." The man said staring down at the pendant in wonder.

"Ah, I see we are all here." Albus said as he moved out of the Great Hall with Black, Remus and Ry on his heels.

Ry dashed forward and gave his father a hug. Blake grinned and ruffled the boy's hair and Severus sneered as it spiked it up in a mess.

"How come I can't come?" Ry asked, with a pout.

"Because you are a child," Severus purred.

"I'm an adult now!" Ry snapped back to Severus.

"And yet still a student of this school, Mr Potter." Albus said resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Plus," Blake said with a smirk. "Just remember, you won't have potions with Snape for a whole week. Hey!"

Blake yelped when Severus smacked his arm.

"Behave, Mr Sun." Severus purred.

Blake just grinned as the others watched them in amusement.

"Now Ry," Blake said turning to his son. "You have an important job, you have to keep the school safe, okay?"

Ry pouted even more as he glared at his father.

"But dad…" Ry whined.

"Come on, Mr Potter," The Headmaster said. "I'm sure I can use your help with some charms on a new classroom."

The Headmaster turned the boy away with a hand on his shoulder, giving Blake a wink over Potter's head.

"Good luck, Dad." Ry called over his shoulder.

"I think it's Potter that needs the luck," Severus muttered into Blake's ear. "The Headmaster just got a new supply of Lemon drops."

Blake grinned before turning to Black and Remus.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Blake said softly. "We should be leaving now. It will take a while to get to the safe house."

xXx

It had taken them until well into the afternoon to get to the safe house in Germany and Dracka had taken off as soon as they got there to talk to members of his team. Remus and Sirius had settled into the larger room at the back of the house since it had two beds while Harry and Severus settled into the smaller room with only one very small bed.

"Will that even hold both of us?" Harry asked.

"You are a wizard, Sun." Severus sneered, looking through his bag.

"I don't like sleeping on charmed beds." Harry said, eyeing it off. "Makes me itchy."

Severus chuckled. "We'll make it work then."

Harry threw him a smile.

"I better put up some wards before we call it a night," Harry said looking around. "It will be a busy day tomorrow."

Severus turned and stalked towards him, Harry tilted his head back and returned the other man's kiss.

"Oh," Harry said as he pulled back. "I should probably remove the magic clinging to you as well."

Harry smirked seeing their combined magic coating the other man's skin marking him as his, most wizards wouldn't be able to pick up on it but anyone with creature blood would.

"What do you see?" Severus went to ask. "Ah, forget that question. I give up with trying to understand you and magic."

Harry laughed and with a hand brushed the magic off the man's skin. The magic fell away like he was brushing off dust. He could still feel Severus's own magic on his skin but he left it there, it would make it easier for him to find the man if he needed to and he could cover it up without a problem. With a last kiss he moved out of the room to set up the wards.

The next day went past in a blur as Harry worked out plans and made sure that everyone knew what they were doing and where they had to be the next night. They were planning on moving on the compound at just past midnight the next night. The guards on duty should be getting sleepy at that point and it gave the Concealment Pendants a better chance to let everyone blend into the back ground as they worked. The full moon was a upside for the werewolves but a down side for the added light.

From all the reports coming in, Simpson didn't have much support at the compound and Harry hadn't told Severus and Dracka that if he had a chance to take Simpson out that he would take it. He had worked on hit teams before and he wasn't going to let an opportunity pass him by.

He had his muscle potion ready to go the next day and was looking forward to being able to move almost like normal again, if only he could get the potion right to use it all the time instead of just for twenty-four hours but at least it was progress. With Severus's help they had gotten further than Harry had without him.

Harry had given them a day to move towards the compound and had the werewolves and vampires coming after nightfall, he didn't want them in place before and run the chance of tipping Simpson off. He should really head to bed but his mind kept running through his plans looking for any loopholes. He would have Dracka look them over when he got back just in case.

He tapped his pen against the table as he reread the reports just in case he missed something. Dracka was still out and Remus and Sirius were talking quietly in the next room. He wasn't sure where Severus was and used the ring to find the man in their room doing something. The man's magic brushed him back and he smiled. He was sure that Severus didn't even know he was doing that as he turned back to his work.

"Did you call me?" Severus asked.

Harry jolted and looked up at the man.

"Oh, sorry." Harry said softly. "Did you feel that?"

"Yes," Severus replied, sitting next to him at the table. "Felt odd."

Harry sat back in his seat and looked at the man.

"I was using the link between us to see where you were," Harry said, showing the man the ring. "You haven't felt that before?"

"Not like that," Severus whispered. "That was different…"

"That's interesting," Harry mused. "Nothing to worry about though, probably just a by-product."

"Has this happened before?"

"Um," Harry said, thinking back. "Not that I can think of, it might just be because of the connection in the ring as well."

"What about with your wife?"

Harry laughed. "Ginny wouldn't have noticed if magic wacked her over the top of her head."

Severus paled. "You married Ginny Weasley?"

"Oops," Harry smirked.

"Does that mean Potter will…"

"Ha!" Harry laughed. "I'm not sure Ry would even notice if Ginny threw herself at the boy fully naked and covered in whipped cream."

"Ah, yes." Severus smirked. "He does seem a little clueless."

"I don't think it helps that we are together," Harry said softly. "Not to mention the fact that I used to be Harry Potter."

"I can understand how that would confuse the boy," Severus said with a soft laugh.

"He'll get past it once he understands that we are not the same person," Harry mused, sitting back in his seat.

Severus looked at him with dark eyes.

"Plus, he is still a child." Dracka stated, coming into the room.

"Have you just been standing out there, listening?" Severus asked of the vampire.

Dracka flashed his fangs at the man as he collapsed in one of the seats. Harry pushed his plans before the man for him to look over as he got up to make a coffee. He limped back to the table with three mugs, as Dracka looked through the plans.

"Can you only make one gap in the wards?" Dracka asked.

He didn't like the fact everyone except the animagi had to go through one gap.

"Yes," Harry replied. "I don't like it either but it's the best I can do. Any more than that and they will know that I'm bending the wards. Now if we breach here…"

xXx

The next night found a sad group of people, vampires, wolves, a dog and a hawk waiting in the pouring rain in the woods to the north of the compound. Harry had already activated the Concealment Pendants and the magic buzzed on the surface of his skin as they waited for the right time to move.

"Okay," Harry whispered to the group. "I'll move forward to bend the wards, Severus watch my back. Once I give the signal move into the compound. This is just a scouting mission people we don't want any heroes. Follow the plan then get out."

Murmurs of agreement answered him softly.

"Black I want you to move out now and breach on the Southside. I want you to be seen okay?" Harry ordered.

The dog nodded his head, he was the only one not wearing a concealment pendent but he did have one in his pocket just in case.

"Act like a stray," Harry reminded the man. "I bet you've had plenty of practise of that."

Black barred his teeth with a slight growl. Remus, in wolf form, bumped his shoulder into the dog, unbalancing him slightly with his larger frame.

"Off you go." Harry ordered, waving his hand.

The dog lopped off into the bush. Harry watched him move off as he moved forward with Severus a step behind. He was lucky that the person that had laid the wards wasn't battle trained or he wouldn't have placed the wards so close to the tree line.

Harry moved through the trees, the potion working wonders on his leg, as he was almost able to walk with the grace he'd used to have when he was younger. He waved Severus behind a tree and gestured for him to wait as he crawled forward on the ground, he could see people moving around the compound and didn't want to be spotted before Black was.

He reached the wards and placed his hand next to the barrier, reaching out with his mind and magic. They weren't strong wards but were strong enough to keep people out and would have taken time and power to pull them down. Harry picked up the wards, shaking his head at the laziness of the wizard that had cast them. They had only made one strand of magic and tied it to Simpson and not the ground. That made it both easier and harder at the same time. To make the gap he had to link himself to Simpson through the wards to keep them 'alive' but had to be careful since they weren't linked to anything else.

Harry carefully grounded himself as he worked quickly to bend the wards around the place he was laying until he made a gap in the wards big enough for two people to stand abreast. He kept the link with Simpson, once he had made the gap, and resisted the temptation to follow it with his mind. He would have time later to do that.

He tied the gap into the ground, placing two rocks on both sides of the gap, as he waited for the guards to notice Black. He knew the minute that Black had been spotted as the few guards around started to float off leaving his side empty of people. He waved over his shoulder at Severus and he rushed back to the people waiting.

Harry moved to the side and pointed to the rocks and signalled two at a time to the group waiting. The wolves rushed through first followed by the rest as they spread out. Dracka gave him a grin as he moved off with Severus. The vampire would look after his lover.

Harry waited to make sure the night was still and quiet before focusing on the link with Simpson, while he kept a look out for trouble. He grinned when he located the man and moved off silently into the night.

xXx

Severus and Dracka moved through the compound, both men not making a sound. The years Severus had been a spy, coming back to him as they hugged a wall waiting for a wizard to walk passed. Blake's spell working wonders as the man passed without a glance in their direction. Dracka peeked around the corner and nodded and they headed off, they were tasked with finding Simpson's office.

They could hear the barking of a dog in the distance as Black drew attention to himself and Severus was sure that the man was made for this kind of assignment. Severus followed Dracka's lead as the vampire lead him further into the compound and towards the office building to the east.

They stopped and Severus quickly picked the lock on the building's door, the silver lock picks slicing through any spell work, and flashed the vampire a grin. Dracka flicked him the bird as he moved passed and down the silent hallway, following Simpson's scent to the man's office.

Severus made quick work of the lock on the man's door, again marvelling at the fact that wizards forgot the muggle way of locking when they charmed their doors. It would have taken him more time to work through the charms, as it would be to pick the lock.

They moved into the tasteful office and Dracka moved to the filing cabinet and started to copy the files. Suddenly both men looked over towards the desk as a whiff of magic came across the room.

Severus pointed to the desk.

Dracka nodded and waved him back.

Severus nodded and stood back.

The vampire moved towards the desk and carefully pulled a sliver dagger with a full leather hilt out of his holster as he opened a drawer.

Severus reeled back from the dark magic and moved back towards the door to the office. He knew that kind of magic and it had him paling in remembrance.

Dracka carefully moved things around in the drawer as the demon yelled at him to take the wizard and drain him. He knew his eyes were shinning red and made sure he didn't look towards Severus. The man's heartbeat was already calling him as he located the horcrux. He used the silver knife and his hand carefully wrapped in his cloak to pull the silver cup out of the drawer and onto the table.

He pulled a containment jar from his pocket and pushed the cup into it and screwed the top on tightly, sighing when the dark magic cut off sharply. He glanced over at Severus and the man flinched back from his red eyes. He held up the jar before placing it into his pocket and moving back to the files.

Severus watched him from the door as he finished off copying the files and placed them back where he'd taken them from before moving back to the door. Severus relocked the door before they moved out of the building.

They were halfway back to the edge of the wards when Severus stopped and pulled Dracka behind some car parts.

"What is Blake doing?" Severus hissed in the vampire's ear.

"He should still be where the gap in the wards are," Dracka hissed back.

"He is doing something," Severus whispered. "I can feel it."

"What?"

"I don't know," Severus replied. "Should we go after him?"

"Can you tell if he's in danger?"

"He isn't in danger," Severus whispered back.

"We move back then," Dracka said. "He knows what he's doing."

Severus looked torn but followed the vampire back to the gap in the wards marked out by the two rocks. They slipped back through, his gut churning, as the two moved back towards the safe house. Following orders.

xXx

Harry finished placing a containment charm around the building, to warn him of anyone coming or going as he moved closer. He silently slipped into the warehouse. A shiver running down his spine when he realised he had found Simpson's followers sleeping area. People were scattered everywhere and snoring rang out throughout the room. He pulled his magic tighter around him so that none of the people would be able to sense him through the Concealment Pendent and carefully picked his way through the men and women around him.

He made his way to an area at the back of the room where a door lay. He silently knelt down and picked the lock as he cast his mind out to the other side. He could feel Simpson further in than the door so he pushed it open carefully. A hallway greeted him on the other side and he found himself in a small office space with doors on both sides of the hall. He moved along until the link led him to one of the offices.

He placed his ear to the door and listened carefully, he couldn't hear anything so reached for the door handle and slowly turned it and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him silently. A man lay on the camp bed slightly snoring. He was a short man with a mop of brown hair. He lay with his back faced towards Harry as he carefully moved across the room, only stopping when he saw a chalk line on the floor.

The man had a protection circle around the camp bed he was sleeping on. Harry knelt down and reached out with his magic, very carefully, and brushed it across the ward. Harry cursed silently as there was no way he was bringing that down without waking the man and alerting everyone else in the warehouse behind him.

He very carefully moved his magic through the barrier like mist getting into the very small gaps and stretching them out towards the man. Dark magic was the first thing he touched on, this man was no Dark Lord but he was defiantly a very powerful Dark Wizard.

Harry pulled the magic back very carefully and stood. There was nothing he could do here. He quickly and quietly made his way out of the building and collapsed his ward around the building as he slipped back out into the night feeling cheated. He'd had the man within striking distance but could do nothing about it.

xXx

Severus tapped his wand against his leg as they waited at the safe house. Everyone was back except Blake. Dracka's men had given their reports quickly and had left leaving just Dracka, Remus, Black and Severus in the house.

"Can you feel any danger Severus?" Dracka asked for the fifth time.

"No," Severus growled.

"So, he didn't tell you what he was going to do?" Black questioned.

"No," Severus said shortly, tapping his wand.

Suddenly Blake rushed into the room, his eyes wide.

"Get your stuff, we need to move now!" Blake cried before moving quickly to the back room.

The others jumped into action.

"Dracka!" Blake called. "Tell your men to scatter. Black change forms and disappear with Remus now!"

"Blake what's going on?" Severus asked.

He quickly shrunk his trunk and Blake's and placed them in his pocket as the man quickly gathered up any files and shoved them towards Dracka. Yelling suddenly sounded outside and Blake paled as anti-apparation wards flared to life.

"Fuck," Blake swore. "This is going to hurt. Dracka do you have everything?"

"Yes," Dracka replied, his eyes red.

"Okay," Blake looked around and quickly cast a fire spell.

Severus stepped back as fire started eating through the bed they had shared last night before quickly setting alight to everything else. They could hear more yelling outside.

"Okay, okay." Blake grabbed Severus's arm in a steel grip and Dracka's in the other hand. "Get ready to catch me."

"What-"

Then there was a ripping sensation, fire, yelling and white noise drowning everything else out. Pain spiked through him but he wasn't sure if it was his pain or someone else's, then Blake's body crashed into him and he wrapped his arms around the smaller man as Dracka grunted near him.

"Dracka!" Severus snapped.

The vampire appeared at his side and helped him with Blake's weight. The man was out cold.

"What happened?" Severus gasped, looking around at the clearing they'd found themselves in.

"He smashed through the anti-apparation wards!" Dracka gasped, with wide eyes. "With three people!"

They slowly lowered the other man to the ground with his back against one of the trees. The man was paper white and sweating slightly.

"No wonder he's out." Severus said as he checked him over, that's when he noticed the blood and swore.

He quickly undid the man's belt.

"Not sure this is the time," Dracka muttered with a smirk.

Severus glared up at him as the lowered Blake's pants to reveal the large gash across the scaring from the snake bite on the man's leg. He heard Dracka curse above him as he pulled a potion from his pocket as Dracka passed him a towel from his trunk.

"Looks like a cutting curse or a sword cut," Dracka said over his shoulder as Severus cleaned the cut. "They must have hit him from the side."

"Something must have gone wrong," Severus agreed, in frustration. "And we weren't there to help him!"

"We followed orders, Severus." Dracka said calmly, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "That's what he asked of us."

Severus finished cleaning the gash, he pulled his wand and tried the basic healing charm he knew but it just failed and he frowned. He tried the charm again with the same results as fresh blood started to weep out of the wound. Dracka passed him a couple of bandages and he cleaned off the cut again and wrapped it up tightly. The cut really needed stitches but it looked like this the best they could do until they were able to get him medical attention. Severus quickly finished binding off the wound tightly and pulled the man's pants back up.

"Do you know where we are?" Severus asked looking around at the clearing. It looked like any other stretch of forest to him.

"No idea," Dracka replied. "But he brought us here for a reason."

Blake suddenly started shivering slightly even though it wasn't cold and Severus frowned in concern.

"We won't be able to apparate with him like this," Dracka said. "I'll have a look around to see if I can find anything."

"Be careful," Severus said softly.

Dracka just grinned showing off his fangs as he moved into the night. Severus took a seat on the ground and pulled Blake into his arms and placed his robes over them to try and stop him shivering.

"I've found a small house." Dracka announced, coming back into the clearing sometime later. "I can feel Blake's magic on the wards."

Dracka knelt in front of them and placed his hand against Blake's forehead.

"He's running a fever," The vampire said with a frown. "Was he sick before?"

"No," Severus stated. "Give me a hand getting him up and we'll move to the house."

"We may not be able to get through the wards, Severus." Dracka warned as he helped him pull Blake up.

"Not much else we can do," Severus replied stiffly.

It didn't take them long to make their way to the small house, more of a cottage than anything else. Severus knew the moment that they came across the wards as Dracka hissed, pulling back slightly. Blake stirred in their grip as the wards touched them.

"Blake!" Dracka hissed. "You have to let us in! Blake!"

Blake groaned and Dracka took more of the man's weight as Severus moved the man's hand forward to touch the wards. Green eyes blinked open slightly before he went limp again, against Dracka. Severus quickly got back under his arm.

"Was it enough?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Dracka replied, stepping forward. "Let's get him inside."

They moved into the small house. The living room led into the kitchen to their right and a small study next to that. To the left a door stood open to a bedroom so they moved Blake in that direction. The room was decked out in soft greys and was mainly just a bed and side tables.

They moved Blake to the bed and Severus unbuckled the man's pants and slipped them down before they sat him on the bed and he was able to take his shoes off. Dracka helped Severus take the man's shirt off to reveal bruising already coming up on his side.

"Gee, they got him good." Dracka said as they moved him onto the bed and covered him up with the blanket.

Blake groaned softly and Severus grabbed his hand.

"Blake?" Severus whispered.

"Hey," Blake whispered back, eyes just slits of green.

"What happened?" Dracka asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

"The wards," Blake whispered. "They were tied to Simpson instead of the ground. I had to move the link to myself when I made the gap."

Blake stopped for a minute and closed his eyes, as if in pain.

"When I went to link them back into the wards after closing the gap, they collapsed." Blake whispered, eyes still closed. "Wasn't expecting that and the back lash caught me. I think a tree stopped me."

Severus tightened his grip on his hand.

"I bolted once I could get my feet under me again." Blake said softly. "Who ties wards to a person and not the ground first? Idiot."

Dracka snorted and clapped a hand on Blake's shoulder before leaving the two alone. It had been a bloody long night and he still had to make sure that everyone got away clean.

"I'll see you in the morning," Dracka said softly as he closed the door behind him.

Severus took his place next to Blake.

"I could feel you doing magic," Severus said softly. "What were you trying to do?"

"Went after Simpson."

Blake's words froze the blood in Severus's veins and he tightened his hold on his hand.

"Needed to know if he was a Dark Lord," Blake explained.

"Dracka and I found a horcrux," Severus whispered.

Blake's eyes flew open than he groaned and shut them quickly.

"Do you need a pain potion?" Severus asked in concern.

"Yeah, hit that bloody tree hard. Hit my head."

"You have a nice bruise coming up on your side as well."

Blake snorted and took the pain potion Severus gave him.

"Can you grab my phone and call Black?" Blake asked looking up with pain filled eyes but at least they were open. "Where's Dracka?"

"In the other room." Severus stated, concerned that the other man didn't realise the vampire had left as he collected Blake's phone. "There's no Black in here, is it under Sirius?"

"Annoying bastard," Blake replied with a smirk.

"Ha!" Severus barked. "Wait, isn't he is your godfather."

Blake snorted then winched. "Not my godfather, he's Ry's godfather. The amount of times that man has smashed me up against a wall proves that."

Severus smirked at him and dialled the man's number.

"Blake! Are you all okay? We saw the house go up in flames!"

Severus held the phone to the side as Black's voice came through.

"It's Snape," Severus said when the man stopped yelling.

"Is Blake okay?" Black asked.

"He's been injured," Severus said softly. "Dracka and I made it out okay. Blake wants to know if you two are okay?"

"Oh, yeah." Black said. "They had werewolves with them but we got away clean."

"They got out okay," Severus said to Blake.

"Tell them to get to the German Portkey Platform," Blake whispered. "There will be a portkey there under my name, code word 'Big Mutts'."

Severus smirked and relayed the message, then hung up.

"There's a first aid kit in the kitchen, can you grab it please?" Blake asked. "And a glass of water?"

"I'll be right back," Severus replied, placing Blake's phone in his pocket.

He nodded at Dracka as he spoke on the phone, the man flashed him a thumbs up. He searched through the cupboards and drawers until he found a plastic box with muggle first aid supplies in it. He placed it on the bedside table, with the glass of water. Blake pulled himself up into the sitting position and grabbed a bottle out of it and rattled a couple of pills out and took them with water.

"Thanks," Blake said softly as he wiggled back down into the bed.

Severus quickly undressed and slipped under the covers. Blake curled up and was out quickly. Sleep took a lot longer for Severus as he listened to Dracka's voice in the other room.

xXx

Dracka looked around the house in interest the next morning, it had been lived in at some point but not any longer. From the amount of baby gear in one of the bedrooms, he was guessing it was when Harry Potter was a young child. He walked into the man's office and glanced around. He found a lot of books on time and theories of time travel. He guessed that this was one of the first houses that Blake lived in when he'd come here, which just made him think what time he had come from and whether the man had wanted to go back.

He moved over to the desk and sat in the chair. The desk itself was cleared off, not even a pen on its surface, which was odd for Blake. He opened the drawers and generally just snooped around. He found a small green notebook in the back of one of the bottom drawers and pulled it out.

Blake's neat script greeted him as he flipped through the pages. It looked like a collection of thoughts of when Blake was Harry Potter and it got him thinking. Did the man need to write it down to remember what happened when he was a child?

He could tell that large sections in the book had been crossed out and rewritten and Blake's normally neat witting grew sloppy in some places and had arrows crossing over parts and references to other pages. Like the man had gotten frustrated while writing. He frowned as he looked at the pages. He couldn't work out much in the book, since it seemed to be more random thoughts than in any order.

"Reduced to snooping?"

Dracka looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway his arms crossed over his chest.

"Found his notebook," Dracka said with a grin. "Looks like the old man had to write down what happened at Hogwarts when he was a child and from the looks of it, he'd had trouble working it all out."

Severus moved over towards him and Dracka held the book out, the other man took it from his hand before putting it back away in one of the drawers.

"What happened to Blake when he was young is private to him," Severus said softly.

"It could give a clue about how to kill the Dark Lord," Dracka pointed out.

Severus raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the table.

"If it could," Severus said slowly. "Blake would have told us."

"Do you think our plan will work?" Dracka asked. "That Harry Potter will be able to kill this Dark Lord. He's only a child."

"With Blake backing him up. We have a chance." Severus said slowly. "Which is more than Blake had in his time."