Fic: From the Mists of Time, HP, Harry/Draco, NC17/18
Merry Month of Masturbation - Day 14
My MMOM Master List 2010
Title: From the Mists of Time
Author: Beren
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: EWE, elves
Summary: Bits of Hogwarts seem to be failing and a magical circle has appeared in the Great Hall. Harry and Draco end up in the middle of finding out what it's for.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Word count: 4,214
My Fanfic Listings (LJ) | My Fanfic Listings (DreamW)
Hogwarts had a nasty habit of having secrets, lots of them, but when Harry had taken the post of flying instructor after his Quidditch career had come crashing down, literally, he hadn't expected to run slap bang into them. He'd been a top international Seeker until the Russian Seeker had accidentally taken them both out in a friendly match and Harry had broken his back. It wasn't as drastic as it would have been in the Muggle world, but professional Quidditch was no longer the career for him. Headmistress McGonagall had offered him the job at Hogwarts almost instantly and he had been happily teaching first years to fly ever since.
The fact he had to put up with Draco Malfoy as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, of all things, didn't even put a blot on his happy landscape, not after they had finally called a proper truce. He had to admit that Draco had started redeeming himself almost as soon as the war was over and had taken the job at Hogwarts even though his family disapproved of it. After a couple of frosty months when Harry had first started at the school they had finally had it out over a couple of drinks and it turned out they weren't so different after all. Now, three years later, Harry was kind of hoping they might make it to more than friends.
He really had loved Ginny with all his heart and she had loved him, but when it had come to sex, frankly there had been nothing. It had taken them about a year to realise that Harry was the one trying too hard and, with a little help from Hermione's considerable intelligence, Harry had finally come to the conclusion he was gay. His upbringing meant he had done his very best to be normal in all ways and that included his sexuality, not that the wizarding world really cared. In many ways wizards and witches were old fashioned, but when it came to a person's sexuality they were surprisingly enlightened. Repression could affect magic and that was considered very bad, so it was very much discouraged.
Harry knew for a fact that Draco was one of those people who did not limit his options and was quite happy to chase skirt and trousers when the mood took him. They'd been out on the pull together (as Ron liked to put it) more than once, so Harry was very sure of his information, but that didn't mean it hadn't taken him three years to pluck up the courage to see if Draco might be interested in him. He had it all planned; Draco would have been proud if he'd known Harry was finally using the Slytherin side of his nature, but that had all been put on hold when something weird started happening at the school. The school year had just finished and they were closing the school down to minimal staff for the summer and parts of the building and grounds had suddenly begun to act oddly and, in some cases, change.
There was a swamp in the prefects' bathroom, the dungeons were trying to flood and nothing at all would fly on the Quidditch pitch. The giant squid also appeared to be trying to mate with any and all boats on the lake, which was disturbing to say the least. However, the strangest thing that had happened was that in the great hall there was now a stone dais in the middle of the room. All the tables and benches had stacked themselves to one side and around the dais were carved stone pillars in a full circle. No one really had a clue what was going on, not even Hermione, who had been sent in by the Ministry with her team of researchers.
"It's Elven," was what she had said before leaving for the day, most likely to head back and jump into her library to do more research.
"Okay," Harry said, a little over two hours later when he and Draco were about ready to lock up the Great Hall and head over to the kitchens to find some food, "I know I'm an ignorant Muggle-raised idiot, but isn't this all a little big for elves?"
Everything was human sized and it had been bothering him since Hermione had said it, because the only elves he had met were very short. Draco looked over at him and lifted an eyebrow.
"How so?" Draco asked, clearly not getting what he was asking.
"Well, elves are really small," Harry said and indicated the usual height of a house elf.
Draco grinned as he caught on.
"Granger was not talking about house elves," Draco told him, clearly finding it a little amusing, but Harry had known that would happen; "she's talking about High Elves."
It pained him to admit it, but Harry had no idea what Draco was talking about.
"Go on," he said, knowing he was going to be ribbed about his lack of knowledge, so he might as well get it over with, "explain it to me."
Draco beckoned him over to the side of the dais and pointed at one of the carvings.
"High elves," the Slytherin told him; "they look mostly human, but they have some elvish qualities, like the pointed ears."
"Oh," Harry said; he hadn't really looked that closely at the carvings before, he had assumed they were wizards, "like Lord of the Rings."
The long hard stare he got for that comment was worth it when he realised Draco knew what he was talking about and hence, must have read the book. He filed that away as blackmail material, because he knew for a fact that that was Muggle literature.
"There are lots of legends about High Elves," Draco resumed his lecture, "but no one really knows anything about them. They appear to be associated with a lot of magical places, but none have been seen in generations and even before that they seemed to appear and disappear at will. The only thing experts agree on is that they did exist and they were highly magical."
"So, do you think they could have had something to do with building Hogwarts?" Harry asked, looking at the carvings carefully for the first time.
That must have been an intelligent question, because Draco didn't instantly come back with a scathing remark. It had taken three years, but Harry just about had the hang of Draco these days. He found Draco's attempts to improve his mind quite endearing.
"It is possible the Founders requested their help," Draco replied with a nod; "it's not unknown for centres of magic to have High Elf influence. That's the only way the experts are sure they exist, because of the legacy they have left behind."
Harry made his way around the dais slowly, looking at the carvings; it was actually more interesting than he had expected.
"Are they having sex?" he asked, a little scandalised as he looked at one relief.
Draco walked around to stand beside him.
"I'd say they were mutually appreciating each other's bodies," was Draco's rather imperious opinion; "if they were having sex one of them would be bent over or on his back."
That was designed to make him blush, Harry just knew it, so he decided that he was definitely, one hundred percent, not going to be embarrassed. He was a man, dammit; he could talk about sex without reverting back to being thirteen.
"So they're wanking," he said, facing the conversation head on and giving Draco a smile for his trouble.
He felt his cock stirring slightly at the thought of sex and the fact that he was standing right next to Draco. It occurred to him when Draco actually looked interested for a moment that this might be the opportunity he was looking for. He would have said something as well, plans or no plans, but light behind him distracted him and he turned. At the top of one of the pillars there was a small, glowing circle.
"Do you think that's good or bad?" he asked, as Draco stood up beside him.
"Could it be worse than waking up and finding my bedroom half underwater?" Draco asked, sounding unsure.
Draco's rooms were in the dungeon; he was of course head of Slytherin, with him in the school no one else was really right for the role. Part of Harry considered that question and part of him wondered what cologne Draco was wearing, because it smelt really good. A second pillar lit up.
"Maybe we should leave," Harry suggested, for once taking prudence over bravado.
"For once, Harry," Draco said, "I think you might be right."
As they turned, Harry's hand brushed Draco's and he felt a thrill of something akin to electricity rush up his arm. Three more of the pillars lit up after that.
"What the hell?" Draco asked, clearly having felt the same thing.
It probably wasn't wise, but Harry couldn't help himself and he reached out to touch Draco's hand again, this time deliberately. The wonderful sensation went up his arm and this time straight down to his cock and he gasped. Draco didn't react quite as much, but Harry could tell his companion was not unaffected and the final four pillars lit up, completing the circle. Harry had just enough time to realise he was an idiot before beams of red light lanced out of the pillars to the centre of the circle, right above the dais, joined together and then split into two. One beam encased him in light, the other Draco, and every muscle in his body went rigid.
He had never felt such power as it ran through every cell in his body and he couldn't breathe. It was like being instantly frozen and microwaved at the same time and for a moment he felt as if he might just vaporise on the spot. At the same time it was one of the most terrifying and exhilarating experiences of his life. He could feel his body absorbing the power and he knew it was doing something to him, but he could not track what. All he could see was red and he did wonder if he was dying.
His lungs were screaming for air by the time the light finally let him go and he collapsed to the floor, gasping in breath as he was released. No part of his body seemed to be working quite right and all he could do was kneel there breathing for quite some time.
"Oh my god," he heard Draco say and it finally made him look up.
Draco was sitting almost directly next to him; he'd been so busy remembering how to take in air that he hadn't noticed and Draco was now reaching out towards him. He had no idea what Draco was doing, so he just sat there and when Draco's fingers touched his ear he shuddered from head to foot as all his neurons fired as if Draco had just found his most erogenous zone ever. Draco snatched his hand back and Harry tried to remember how to speak.
"What?" was about all he could manage.
His eyes seemed to be playing silly whatsits so he pulled his glasses off and rubbed them.
"Your ears," Draco said, sounding shocked and confused.
Harry opened his eyes again as one of his hands shot to the ear Draco had touched. It wasn't as if he fondled his ears very often, but even so he could feel they were a different shape, curving into a point at the top. He stared at Draco and realised two things; his eyes were working better without his glasses and Draco had the exact same little points poking through his hair.
"It changed us," he said, doing his best not the panic; "the light changed us."
"Into High Elves," Draco finished for him.
For a little while Harry had no idea what to do, until he noticed that the pillars were still glowing and more of the stone work seemed to have gained lighted edges. With the shock wearing off, it began to occur to him that he wasn't really afraid and that actually he felt really good. Sometimes he didn't think things through and Draco and Hermione both accused him of using only about five percent of his brain most of the time, but he did actually have a relatively quick mind. The carvings he had been looking at and everything Draco had told him began to form a pattern in his mind.
"What if High Elves don't exist?" he said as he turned the idea over in his brain.
Draco gave him the one eyebrow raise treatment for suggesting that.
"No, I mean, what if they aren't a race?" Harry continued to explain his train of though. "You said they are associated with magical places and that the Founders might have asked for their help. What if you don't invite High Elves, what if you become them? You told me they just seemed to come and go at will."
"And if humans were transforming themselves just for a ceremony it would explain why no trace of their civilisation had ever been found," Draco said nodding. "But surely someone would have mentioned it."
It did sound a little farfetched, Harry had to agree, but they were both living, breathing evidence.
"What if someone in the past decided this was a really bad idea?" he asked, knowing what he knew about the wizarding world. "What if they destroyed all the information on how to do it? Look at what they tried to do with DADA."
There had been some moves to ban certain things after the war, luckily several respected people had pointed out how putting your head in the sand didn't help and, for once, the Ministry had listened.
"It does sound like the kind of stupidity our world goes in for from time to time," Draco agreed with a nod. "Of course that doesn't answer the question as to why we find ourselves in this predicament."
Harry felt himself going red this time; he had a sneaking suspicion what had started everything.
"I think," he said sheepishly, "that might have been me."
"Again?" Draco asked in a long suffering tone. "You should have a sign around your neck which says 'Beware, could find sex in a monastery'."
Harry blushed some more.
"Spill it, Potter," Draco said and Harry knew he was in trouble if he did not obey, because Draco only used his surname these days when making a point.
"I, um, maybe got a little turned on," he said, just a little bit mortified.
Draco's expression was priceless.
"You were turned on by a carving of wanking?" Draco asked, clearly finding it funny.
"Actually it might have been the combination of you and the carving," Harry admitted, since he didn't think there was any point lying about it now.
That did shut Draco up for a few seconds.
"Harry," Draco said eventually; "is there something you're trying to tell me?"
This really wasn't how Harry had imagined it, in fact it had more to do with a few drinks, a quick push against a wall and then lots of kissing and touching. He had always been more a man of action than words.
"Okay," he confessed and tried not to be too embarrassed; "I have a thing for you and I've been trying to work up to actually telling you."
The way Draco smiled made him pray that Draco didn't think he was cute and was about to pat him on the head.
"God," Draco said and shook his head, "how long have we wasted on the wondering? You'd think we were teenagers, not grown men!"
It dawned on Harry that, that was not Draco's usual scathing wit and Draco might just have actually admitted something.
"You mean?" he asked, kind of shocked.
"Yes, you moronic Gryffindor," Draco replied with a sigh, "your idiocy seems to be catching."
Harry grinned.
"So," he said, growing in confidence, "would you like to go out sometime?"
Draco actually laughed at that.
"Love to," was the response, "but, in case you forgot, we have a little problem to deal with first."
Harry actually had forgotten and mentally kicked himself.
"So," he said, coming up blank, "I've exhausted my quota for strokes of genius for the next year, what do you think is going on?"
The way Draco frowned suggested he was thinking about that question.
"Well," Draco said slowly, "enchantments on parts of the school seem to be failing or going wrong, so, maybe the power the founders generated needs renewing."
It sounded hideously logical.
"And, knowing the founders," Harry agreed, following the line of thought, "they would have put safe guards in to make sure it was possible to do so, hence the circle."
Draco nodded.
"So how do we renew the magic?" Harry asked, not quite sure what High Elves did.
After a little more thought, Draco began to look amused.
"Well," Draco said, smiling, "I can think of one reason our ancestors might have decided to wipe High Elves from the history books."
"Why?" Harry had to ask.
"All the references that are left mention fertility and new life," Draco continued to explain his line of thought, "what if they are just the less sexual references that were allowed to stay. What if High Elves are all about sex and the reason they have been left out of the exalted history of our people is because someone was a prude?"
It did make an awful lot of sense; all it would have taken was one overzealous historian to change the slant of the whole thing.
"You mean to renew the magic you and I should ..?" Harry had to admit he was a little scandalised at an intellectual level, but his cock liked the idea.
"Well we do have pictorial evidence," Draco pointed out with a lecherous grin.
It occurred to Harry that he had been dreaming about something like this for a while, but he still wasn't sure.
"Can that really be it?" he asked, not quite convinced.
"Well I think the circle likes us," Draco replied and reached out to touch Harry's ear again.
That message went straight to Harry's cock and he decided that maybe he didn't care if the magic actually worked or not, it might just be fun.
"Yeah," he said and reached out towards Draco; "did you know these ears are an erogenous zone."
Draco actually gave a little gasp when Harry's fingers made contact.
"Now I get what they're doing in the background of that carving," Draco said, blinking at him with slightly blown pupils.
"So, what shall we do?" Harry asked, feeling the need to get things moving.
Draco looked at the carving next to them and Harry did the same.
"I suggest we re-enact that;" Draco said and pointed at two male figures in the relief.
The pair was stood side by side, hands overlapping each other on their penises and from the expressions on their faces they were very much enjoying it.
"Do you think we need to be naked?" Harry asked, since both figures were.
"Do you want to be?" Draco asked, leaning close and smiling.
A fluttery feeling ran through him at that and he felt his cock swell some more.
"Naked in the Great Hall," he said, smiling back; "now that's a fantasy I haven't had since school."
"Ah, Harry," Draco said, undoing the button on his robe in a very provocative manned, "if only I'd know you were kinky before."
From there it was a simple matter of relieving each other of their clothes and Harry could feel the magic in the circle building as they stripped.
"I think it likes it," he said, feeling just a little breathless as he threw away his boxers.
"I think you're right," Draco agreed and stepped up to him, pulling him in for a kiss and aligning their bodies so they were flush.
Harry felt heat and need rush through him and he threw himself into the kiss with abandon. They were definitely on the right track, he could feel it though every nerve. He opened his mouth and let Draco's tongue in, sucking gently on it as he brought his hand up and ever so gently ran his fingers over one of Draco's ears. Draco moaned into his mouth and then broke away panting, but keeping their lower bodies flush.
"This might be embarrassingly fast," Draco said breathlessly.
"Yeah," Harry agreed; he hadn't felt this turned on in, well ever. "Maybe we can perform for Hogwarts and then take it back to my room?"
"Good plan," Draco replied and then went back to kissing him.
When fingers wrapped around his cock, squeezing it gently against Draco's, he gave a long low moan and added his own hand to the proceedings. They didn't want to get this wrong after all, not that he thought the circle really cared with the way he had been feeling the power building.
"Oh god," he said, breaking the kissing and burying his face in the crook of Draco's neck and shoulder.
The sensations were really intense and the build up of magic around them was driving him insane with need. He knew why the carvings looked so spectacularly strung out, because it was almost more than he could take. He moved his hand in time with Draco's and, although not the most elegant or practiced effort, it was more than enough to have him chasing down his orgasm with ridiculous speed. He had a feeling High Elves were hard wired for exactly this; if his and Draco's suspicions were right, it was literally what they were designed for.
Draco's lips brushed his ear and that was it, he came with an almighty rush and something about him did it for Draco as well and they were both coming and all hell broke loose. It was like the circle was the lock and they were the key and when that key turned, the out-rush of power was utterly shocking. Harry grabbed Draco, holding to his companion tightly as they were buffeted by the most intense magic Harry had ever felt. It rushed through him and around him and out into the surrounding area and the only thing he could make any sense of was Draco.
At some point they fell over, but Harry refused to let go and Draco didn't exactly loosen his grip either. It wasn't frightening; the magic was not attacking them, but it was mind blowing in sheer volume and power and Harry felt his mind beginning to rebel and shut down. He thought he might pass out when, as suddenly as it had begun, the out-rush stopped and everything went silent. It almost felt as if he had gone deaf and blind as it cut off so completely, but Draco moved against him and slowly reality began to seem okay again. He was kneeling on the floor with Draco leaning against him and he didn't bother to move for a long few minutes.
"Bloody hell," Draco said quietly against his shoulder.
All he did was hum in reply; it about summed everything up. He felt perfectly comfortable, but he did lift his head, just a little to see the dais and the circle around them softly glowing. It took him a while to realise that what he was looking at was becoming less substantial.
"It's going away," he said, still not willing to move as his equilibrium slowly returned.
"Not needed anymore," was Draco's comment on that, seemingly perfectly happy to remain draped around him.
"D'you think Hogwarts is fixed?" Harry asked after another moment or two's silence as he watched the pillars vanishing one by one.
"Must be," Draco replied and finally lifted his head.
That was when the doors banged open.
"I figured it out," Hermione announced to the now, mostly empty Great Hall and stopped dead.
Harry had never wanted to be naked in front of Hermione, but his clothes were far too far away to get to them quickly, so he just knelt there.
"Oh," Hermione said as she stared at them; "you figured it out too."
"By accident," Draco said and smiled at her.
It appeared Draco did not have an embarrassment setting, at least not one he used.
"Good, well, yes," Hermione said, going a beautiful shade of pink, "good job; that explains the shock wave I felt just now. I'll just leave you two to clear up."
And with that Hermione turned and walked right back out again; Draco had the front to laugh.
"That's one of my two best friends who just saw me naked," Harry pointed out, not really seeing the funny side.
Draco just grinned and kissed him.
"Well now she'll have something to compare to Weasley then," Draco told him, unrepentant and still amused.
Harry wanted to splutter in indignation, he really did, but Draco chose that moment to finally move away from him and he got a very good look at Draco's arse; everything else seemed irrelevant.
The End
My MMOM Master List 2010
Title: From the Mists of Time
Author: Beren
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: EWE, elves
Summary: Bits of Hogwarts seem to be failing and a magical circle has appeared in the Great Hall. Harry and Draco end up in the middle of finding out what it's for.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Word count: 4,214
My Fanfic Listings (LJ) | My Fanfic Listings (DreamW)
Hogwarts had a nasty habit of having secrets, lots of them, but when Harry had taken the post of flying instructor after his Quidditch career had come crashing down, literally, he hadn't expected to run slap bang into them. He'd been a top international Seeker until the Russian Seeker had accidentally taken them both out in a friendly match and Harry had broken his back. It wasn't as drastic as it would have been in the Muggle world, but professional Quidditch was no longer the career for him. Headmistress McGonagall had offered him the job at Hogwarts almost instantly and he had been happily teaching first years to fly ever since.
The fact he had to put up with Draco Malfoy as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, of all things, didn't even put a blot on his happy landscape, not after they had finally called a proper truce. He had to admit that Draco had started redeeming himself almost as soon as the war was over and had taken the job at Hogwarts even though his family disapproved of it. After a couple of frosty months when Harry had first started at the school they had finally had it out over a couple of drinks and it turned out they weren't so different after all. Now, three years later, Harry was kind of hoping they might make it to more than friends.
He really had loved Ginny with all his heart and she had loved him, but when it had come to sex, frankly there had been nothing. It had taken them about a year to realise that Harry was the one trying too hard and, with a little help from Hermione's considerable intelligence, Harry had finally come to the conclusion he was gay. His upbringing meant he had done his very best to be normal in all ways and that included his sexuality, not that the wizarding world really cared. In many ways wizards and witches were old fashioned, but when it came to a person's sexuality they were surprisingly enlightened. Repression could affect magic and that was considered very bad, so it was very much discouraged.
Harry knew for a fact that Draco was one of those people who did not limit his options and was quite happy to chase skirt and trousers when the mood took him. They'd been out on the pull together (as Ron liked to put it) more than once, so Harry was very sure of his information, but that didn't mean it hadn't taken him three years to pluck up the courage to see if Draco might be interested in him. He had it all planned; Draco would have been proud if he'd known Harry was finally using the Slytherin side of his nature, but that had all been put on hold when something weird started happening at the school. The school year had just finished and they were closing the school down to minimal staff for the summer and parts of the building and grounds had suddenly begun to act oddly and, in some cases, change.
There was a swamp in the prefects' bathroom, the dungeons were trying to flood and nothing at all would fly on the Quidditch pitch. The giant squid also appeared to be trying to mate with any and all boats on the lake, which was disturbing to say the least. However, the strangest thing that had happened was that in the great hall there was now a stone dais in the middle of the room. All the tables and benches had stacked themselves to one side and around the dais were carved stone pillars in a full circle. No one really had a clue what was going on, not even Hermione, who had been sent in by the Ministry with her team of researchers.
"It's Elven," was what she had said before leaving for the day, most likely to head back and jump into her library to do more research.
"Okay," Harry said, a little over two hours later when he and Draco were about ready to lock up the Great Hall and head over to the kitchens to find some food, "I know I'm an ignorant Muggle-raised idiot, but isn't this all a little big for elves?"
Everything was human sized and it had been bothering him since Hermione had said it, because the only elves he had met were very short. Draco looked over at him and lifted an eyebrow.
"How so?" Draco asked, clearly not getting what he was asking.
"Well, elves are really small," Harry said and indicated the usual height of a house elf.
Draco grinned as he caught on.
"Granger was not talking about house elves," Draco told him, clearly finding it a little amusing, but Harry had known that would happen; "she's talking about High Elves."
It pained him to admit it, but Harry had no idea what Draco was talking about.
"Go on," he said, knowing he was going to be ribbed about his lack of knowledge, so he might as well get it over with, "explain it to me."
Draco beckoned him over to the side of the dais and pointed at one of the carvings.
"High elves," the Slytherin told him; "they look mostly human, but they have some elvish qualities, like the pointed ears."
"Oh," Harry said; he hadn't really looked that closely at the carvings before, he had assumed they were wizards, "like Lord of the Rings."
The long hard stare he got for that comment was worth it when he realised Draco knew what he was talking about and hence, must have read the book. He filed that away as blackmail material, because he knew for a fact that that was Muggle literature.
"There are lots of legends about High Elves," Draco resumed his lecture, "but no one really knows anything about them. They appear to be associated with a lot of magical places, but none have been seen in generations and even before that they seemed to appear and disappear at will. The only thing experts agree on is that they did exist and they were highly magical."
"So, do you think they could have had something to do with building Hogwarts?" Harry asked, looking at the carvings carefully for the first time.
That must have been an intelligent question, because Draco didn't instantly come back with a scathing remark. It had taken three years, but Harry just about had the hang of Draco these days. He found Draco's attempts to improve his mind quite endearing.
"It is possible the Founders requested their help," Draco replied with a nod; "it's not unknown for centres of magic to have High Elf influence. That's the only way the experts are sure they exist, because of the legacy they have left behind."
Harry made his way around the dais slowly, looking at the carvings; it was actually more interesting than he had expected.
"Are they having sex?" he asked, a little scandalised as he looked at one relief.
Draco walked around to stand beside him.
"I'd say they were mutually appreciating each other's bodies," was Draco's rather imperious opinion; "if they were having sex one of them would be bent over or on his back."
That was designed to make him blush, Harry just knew it, so he decided that he was definitely, one hundred percent, not going to be embarrassed. He was a man, dammit; he could talk about sex without reverting back to being thirteen.
"So they're wanking," he said, facing the conversation head on and giving Draco a smile for his trouble.
He felt his cock stirring slightly at the thought of sex and the fact that he was standing right next to Draco. It occurred to him when Draco actually looked interested for a moment that this might be the opportunity he was looking for. He would have said something as well, plans or no plans, but light behind him distracted him and he turned. At the top of one of the pillars there was a small, glowing circle.
"Do you think that's good or bad?" he asked, as Draco stood up beside him.
"Could it be worse than waking up and finding my bedroom half underwater?" Draco asked, sounding unsure.
Draco's rooms were in the dungeon; he was of course head of Slytherin, with him in the school no one else was really right for the role. Part of Harry considered that question and part of him wondered what cologne Draco was wearing, because it smelt really good. A second pillar lit up.
"Maybe we should leave," Harry suggested, for once taking prudence over bravado.
"For once, Harry," Draco said, "I think you might be right."
As they turned, Harry's hand brushed Draco's and he felt a thrill of something akin to electricity rush up his arm. Three more of the pillars lit up after that.
"What the hell?" Draco asked, clearly having felt the same thing.
It probably wasn't wise, but Harry couldn't help himself and he reached out to touch Draco's hand again, this time deliberately. The wonderful sensation went up his arm and this time straight down to his cock and he gasped. Draco didn't react quite as much, but Harry could tell his companion was not unaffected and the final four pillars lit up, completing the circle. Harry had just enough time to realise he was an idiot before beams of red light lanced out of the pillars to the centre of the circle, right above the dais, joined together and then split into two. One beam encased him in light, the other Draco, and every muscle in his body went rigid.
He had never felt such power as it ran through every cell in his body and he couldn't breathe. It was like being instantly frozen and microwaved at the same time and for a moment he felt as if he might just vaporise on the spot. At the same time it was one of the most terrifying and exhilarating experiences of his life. He could feel his body absorbing the power and he knew it was doing something to him, but he could not track what. All he could see was red and he did wonder if he was dying.
His lungs were screaming for air by the time the light finally let him go and he collapsed to the floor, gasping in breath as he was released. No part of his body seemed to be working quite right and all he could do was kneel there breathing for quite some time.
"Oh my god," he heard Draco say and it finally made him look up.
Draco was sitting almost directly next to him; he'd been so busy remembering how to take in air that he hadn't noticed and Draco was now reaching out towards him. He had no idea what Draco was doing, so he just sat there and when Draco's fingers touched his ear he shuddered from head to foot as all his neurons fired as if Draco had just found his most erogenous zone ever. Draco snatched his hand back and Harry tried to remember how to speak.
"What?" was about all he could manage.
His eyes seemed to be playing silly whatsits so he pulled his glasses off and rubbed them.
"Your ears," Draco said, sounding shocked and confused.
Harry opened his eyes again as one of his hands shot to the ear Draco had touched. It wasn't as if he fondled his ears very often, but even so he could feel they were a different shape, curving into a point at the top. He stared at Draco and realised two things; his eyes were working better without his glasses and Draco had the exact same little points poking through his hair.
"It changed us," he said, doing his best not the panic; "the light changed us."
"Into High Elves," Draco finished for him.
For a little while Harry had no idea what to do, until he noticed that the pillars were still glowing and more of the stone work seemed to have gained lighted edges. With the shock wearing off, it began to occur to him that he wasn't really afraid and that actually he felt really good. Sometimes he didn't think things through and Draco and Hermione both accused him of using only about five percent of his brain most of the time, but he did actually have a relatively quick mind. The carvings he had been looking at and everything Draco had told him began to form a pattern in his mind.
"What if High Elves don't exist?" he said as he turned the idea over in his brain.
Draco gave him the one eyebrow raise treatment for suggesting that.
"No, I mean, what if they aren't a race?" Harry continued to explain his train of though. "You said they are associated with magical places and that the Founders might have asked for their help. What if you don't invite High Elves, what if you become them? You told me they just seemed to come and go at will."
"And if humans were transforming themselves just for a ceremony it would explain why no trace of their civilisation had ever been found," Draco said nodding. "But surely someone would have mentioned it."
It did sound a little farfetched, Harry had to agree, but they were both living, breathing evidence.
"What if someone in the past decided this was a really bad idea?" he asked, knowing what he knew about the wizarding world. "What if they destroyed all the information on how to do it? Look at what they tried to do with DADA."
There had been some moves to ban certain things after the war, luckily several respected people had pointed out how putting your head in the sand didn't help and, for once, the Ministry had listened.
"It does sound like the kind of stupidity our world goes in for from time to time," Draco agreed with a nod. "Of course that doesn't answer the question as to why we find ourselves in this predicament."
Harry felt himself going red this time; he had a sneaking suspicion what had started everything.
"I think," he said sheepishly, "that might have been me."
"Again?" Draco asked in a long suffering tone. "You should have a sign around your neck which says 'Beware, could find sex in a monastery'."
Harry blushed some more.
"Spill it, Potter," Draco said and Harry knew he was in trouble if he did not obey, because Draco only used his surname these days when making a point.
"I, um, maybe got a little turned on," he said, just a little bit mortified.
Draco's expression was priceless.
"You were turned on by a carving of wanking?" Draco asked, clearly finding it funny.
"Actually it might have been the combination of you and the carving," Harry admitted, since he didn't think there was any point lying about it now.
That did shut Draco up for a few seconds.
"Harry," Draco said eventually; "is there something you're trying to tell me?"
This really wasn't how Harry had imagined it, in fact it had more to do with a few drinks, a quick push against a wall and then lots of kissing and touching. He had always been more a man of action than words.
"Okay," he confessed and tried not to be too embarrassed; "I have a thing for you and I've been trying to work up to actually telling you."
The way Draco smiled made him pray that Draco didn't think he was cute and was about to pat him on the head.
"God," Draco said and shook his head, "how long have we wasted on the wondering? You'd think we were teenagers, not grown men!"
It dawned on Harry that, that was not Draco's usual scathing wit and Draco might just have actually admitted something.
"You mean?" he asked, kind of shocked.
"Yes, you moronic Gryffindor," Draco replied with a sigh, "your idiocy seems to be catching."
Harry grinned.
"So," he said, growing in confidence, "would you like to go out sometime?"
Draco actually laughed at that.
"Love to," was the response, "but, in case you forgot, we have a little problem to deal with first."
Harry actually had forgotten and mentally kicked himself.
"So," he said, coming up blank, "I've exhausted my quota for strokes of genius for the next year, what do you think is going on?"
The way Draco frowned suggested he was thinking about that question.
"Well," Draco said slowly, "enchantments on parts of the school seem to be failing or going wrong, so, maybe the power the founders generated needs renewing."
It sounded hideously logical.
"And, knowing the founders," Harry agreed, following the line of thought, "they would have put safe guards in to make sure it was possible to do so, hence the circle."
Draco nodded.
"So how do we renew the magic?" Harry asked, not quite sure what High Elves did.
After a little more thought, Draco began to look amused.
"Well," Draco said, smiling, "I can think of one reason our ancestors might have decided to wipe High Elves from the history books."
"Why?" Harry had to ask.
"All the references that are left mention fertility and new life," Draco continued to explain his line of thought, "what if they are just the less sexual references that were allowed to stay. What if High Elves are all about sex and the reason they have been left out of the exalted history of our people is because someone was a prude?"
It did make an awful lot of sense; all it would have taken was one overzealous historian to change the slant of the whole thing.
"You mean to renew the magic you and I should ..?" Harry had to admit he was a little scandalised at an intellectual level, but his cock liked the idea.
"Well we do have pictorial evidence," Draco pointed out with a lecherous grin.
It occurred to Harry that he had been dreaming about something like this for a while, but he still wasn't sure.
"Can that really be it?" he asked, not quite convinced.
"Well I think the circle likes us," Draco replied and reached out to touch Harry's ear again.
That message went straight to Harry's cock and he decided that maybe he didn't care if the magic actually worked or not, it might just be fun.
"Yeah," he said and reached out towards Draco; "did you know these ears are an erogenous zone."
Draco actually gave a little gasp when Harry's fingers made contact.
"Now I get what they're doing in the background of that carving," Draco said, blinking at him with slightly blown pupils.
"So, what shall we do?" Harry asked, feeling the need to get things moving.
Draco looked at the carving next to them and Harry did the same.
"I suggest we re-enact that;" Draco said and pointed at two male figures in the relief.
The pair was stood side by side, hands overlapping each other on their penises and from the expressions on their faces they were very much enjoying it.
"Do you think we need to be naked?" Harry asked, since both figures were.
"Do you want to be?" Draco asked, leaning close and smiling.
A fluttery feeling ran through him at that and he felt his cock swell some more.
"Naked in the Great Hall," he said, smiling back; "now that's a fantasy I haven't had since school."
"Ah, Harry," Draco said, undoing the button on his robe in a very provocative manned, "if only I'd know you were kinky before."
From there it was a simple matter of relieving each other of their clothes and Harry could feel the magic in the circle building as they stripped.
"I think it likes it," he said, feeling just a little breathless as he threw away his boxers.
"I think you're right," Draco agreed and stepped up to him, pulling him in for a kiss and aligning their bodies so they were flush.
Harry felt heat and need rush through him and he threw himself into the kiss with abandon. They were definitely on the right track, he could feel it though every nerve. He opened his mouth and let Draco's tongue in, sucking gently on it as he brought his hand up and ever so gently ran his fingers over one of Draco's ears. Draco moaned into his mouth and then broke away panting, but keeping their lower bodies flush.
"This might be embarrassingly fast," Draco said breathlessly.
"Yeah," Harry agreed; he hadn't felt this turned on in, well ever. "Maybe we can perform for Hogwarts and then take it back to my room?"
"Good plan," Draco replied and then went back to kissing him.
When fingers wrapped around his cock, squeezing it gently against Draco's, he gave a long low moan and added his own hand to the proceedings. They didn't want to get this wrong after all, not that he thought the circle really cared with the way he had been feeling the power building.
"Oh god," he said, breaking the kissing and burying his face in the crook of Draco's neck and shoulder.
The sensations were really intense and the build up of magic around them was driving him insane with need. He knew why the carvings looked so spectacularly strung out, because it was almost more than he could take. He moved his hand in time with Draco's and, although not the most elegant or practiced effort, it was more than enough to have him chasing down his orgasm with ridiculous speed. He had a feeling High Elves were hard wired for exactly this; if his and Draco's suspicions were right, it was literally what they were designed for.
Draco's lips brushed his ear and that was it, he came with an almighty rush and something about him did it for Draco as well and they were both coming and all hell broke loose. It was like the circle was the lock and they were the key and when that key turned, the out-rush of power was utterly shocking. Harry grabbed Draco, holding to his companion tightly as they were buffeted by the most intense magic Harry had ever felt. It rushed through him and around him and out into the surrounding area and the only thing he could make any sense of was Draco.
At some point they fell over, but Harry refused to let go and Draco didn't exactly loosen his grip either. It wasn't frightening; the magic was not attacking them, but it was mind blowing in sheer volume and power and Harry felt his mind beginning to rebel and shut down. He thought he might pass out when, as suddenly as it had begun, the out-rush stopped and everything went silent. It almost felt as if he had gone deaf and blind as it cut off so completely, but Draco moved against him and slowly reality began to seem okay again. He was kneeling on the floor with Draco leaning against him and he didn't bother to move for a long few minutes.
"Bloody hell," Draco said quietly against his shoulder.
All he did was hum in reply; it about summed everything up. He felt perfectly comfortable, but he did lift his head, just a little to see the dais and the circle around them softly glowing. It took him a while to realise that what he was looking at was becoming less substantial.
"It's going away," he said, still not willing to move as his equilibrium slowly returned.
"Not needed anymore," was Draco's comment on that, seemingly perfectly happy to remain draped around him.
"D'you think Hogwarts is fixed?" Harry asked after another moment or two's silence as he watched the pillars vanishing one by one.
"Must be," Draco replied and finally lifted his head.
That was when the doors banged open.
"I figured it out," Hermione announced to the now, mostly empty Great Hall and stopped dead.
Harry had never wanted to be naked in front of Hermione, but his clothes were far too far away to get to them quickly, so he just knelt there.
"Oh," Hermione said as she stared at them; "you figured it out too."
"By accident," Draco said and smiled at her.
It appeared Draco did not have an embarrassment setting, at least not one he used.
"Good, well, yes," Hermione said, going a beautiful shade of pink, "good job; that explains the shock wave I felt just now. I'll just leave you two to clear up."
And with that Hermione turned and walked right back out again; Draco had the front to laugh.
"That's one of my two best friends who just saw me naked," Harry pointed out, not really seeing the funny side.
Draco just grinned and kissed him.
"Well now she'll have something to compare to Weasley then," Draco told him, unrepentant and still amused.
Harry wanted to splutter in indignation, he really did, but Draco chose that moment to finally move away from him and he got a very good look at Draco's arse; everything else seemed irrelevant.
The End