Fic: Damned Demented Demons 12/32 (SPN/HP)
Title: Damned Demented Demons 12/32
Author: ME!
Fandoms: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Warnings: Spoilers for all Harry Potter books, Spoilers up to 4x17 for Supernatural.
Disclaimer: Sam and Dean belong to Kripke, Harry Potter belongs to Rowling.
A/N: I thought that the Battle of Hogwarts took place in Spring 1997...so that's what I based my timeline on. Since then I've seen that most sources have it in 1998. Ah well. In this story it's 1997.
A/N to chap 12: Does this count as a double update week? I think it'll have to. Due to a change in my working schedule, I'm not going to be able to get another update up until the end of next week at the earliest.
Summary: In which the Winchesters meet Malfoy and Harry sets up for some heavy duty spell work.
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Sam's heart leap into his throat and he felt the familiar kick of adrenaline and made to move forward, only to have Phil put a hand to his chest stopping him. Before Sam could tell him to get the hell off, Harry - the real Harry - was pulling the invisibility cloak off.
"How did you know?" Harry asked innocently, as if there wasn't a wand pointed at Sam's brother's throat.
"You don't intimidate me," Malfoy answered cooly, "never have, never will." He lowered his wand then, and Sam relaxed slightly. "Now, can we get to business? I know Saint Potter can do whatever he wants, but some of us are here at great personal risk, and I don't appreciate being played with."
Sam watched Harry scowl, while he said, "Sorry, Malfoy" as if it pained him.
Malfoy eyed both Dean and Sam in puzzlement and finally said, "If I'm not mistaken, your double here and that bloke in the back are both getting taller."
Sam's eyes widened, as he realized that his perspective was slowly changing.
"Shit!" Harry said, and with a wave of his wand there was a curtain drawn over part of the hallway, "Behind the curtain! Clothes off before you wreck my favorite jeans!"
Sam and Dean both scrambled, tripping over lengthening limbs as they threw themselves behind the curtain and quickly took their clothes off before any seams burst. Once the clothes were gone, they waited staring wide-eyed at each other until they were finished morphing back into themselves. Then two piled of nearly folded clothes, along with Dean's ring and amulet, levitated themselves around the edge of the curtain. Sam and Dean dressed quickly and stepped back around the curtain, handing Harry the smaller sets of clothes.
"That was a little close for comfort" Dean said in his usual low rumble. Sam saw Malfoy's grey eyes widen, and bit back a smirk.
"And which one of you did I just have at wand point?" Malfoy asked softly.
"That'd be me," Dean said, raising one hand. Malfoy nodded slowly.
"Which makes you," Malfoy's eyes rested on Sam, as he visibly swallowed, "the skinny kid in the back who looked like he wanted to punch me?"
"That's right," Sam said, and if he lowered his voice a little, what did it matter.
"Well," Malfoy said, his grip on his wand tightening even though he had it pointed at the floor. "I can see why you needed to change clothes so quickly." Sam did smile at that, but oddly enough, it only seemed to make the blond wizard more nervous.
"Potter..." Malfoy started, "Care to tell me what the hell you've gotten me into?"
"Right," Harry replied, and Sam could tell he was biting back a smile himself, "Draco Malfoy, I'd like you to meet Dean and Sam Winchester." Harry gestured to them as he spoke their names. "Dean and Sam, this is Draco Malfoy, an old...acquaintance, who happens to work in the Department of Mysteries back in Britain."
"Or did anyway, I'm sure Potter will either get me fired or killed tonight," Malfoy replied, and to Sam's surprise, actually sounded like he believed it.
"You and me both," Phil muttered.
"Oh, sorry, Dra- urr, Malfoy," Harry said. "This is Phil O'Shaughnessy, Senior Auror. Phil, this -"
"I know who Mr. Malfoy is, Harry," Phil answered curtly, surprising Sam with his tone. He watched as Malfoy's eyes shuttered slightly, and only then realized that Malfoy had held himself stiff throughout all the introductions, and hadn't bothered offering his hand to anyone.
"Well..." Harry said into the awkward silence. "Down to business then?"
"Please," Malfoy drawled.
"We need to get into the Department of Mysteries," Harry told Malfoy bluntly. Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"As I recall from our fifth year, you are quite capable of doing that without my help," Malfoy replied, jaw tightening.
"Right," Harry responded, and Sam watched as Harry's own jaw tightened and a darkness seemed to move behind his eyes. "And as you might also recall, that didn't exactly go well."
"Well, you did manage to put my father in Azkaban, beat the Dar -" Malfoy cut himself off suddenly, and heaved a sigh. "Sorry. Why is it that you need my help this time?"
Sam started to understand what Harry had been talking about before. The tension between Harry and Malfoy was stifling. Sam was beginning to wonder why the security guard from upstairs wasn't running down to see what all the awkwardness was about.
"I'm not here for some half-cocked rescue mission," Harry answered. "I need to see the files, and in order to do that, I need an Unspeakable."
"Well then, at your service," Malfoy replied with a casual flourish of his hand. "Though I don't see why you had to put my whole life at risk for a stupid file. You of all people should know what would happen to me if I was discovered breaking as many laws as I've already broken tonight. You nearly wrote my probation terms yourself, as I recall."
"Which is also why you needn't worry about it," Harry responded flippantly.
"Wait, wait," Dean spoke up. Sam knew what was coming because he was thinking it himself. "Azkavan? Files? Probation terms? Harry, what the hell aren't you telling us and who exactly is this guy?!"
Harry passed a hand through his hair, either in an attempt to mess it up further, or smooth it down, Sam couldn't be sure, because, like usual, Harry's hair remained the same regardless.
"The file they have on you guys is in the Department of Mysteries," Harry began, "...the rest you don't need to know about."
Sam watched as Malfoy seemed to eye him and Dean more closely, now that he knew they were the subject of a file in his own department. The look made Sam's skin crawl in the familiar way it did whenever Dean looked at him like he was a freak.
"First thing's first though," Harry continued. "We've got to get you two protected. So, first stop is the Sliabh na Caillighe."
Sam watched as Malfoy's eyes snapped back to Harry, but Harry had already turned his attention elsewhere. Sam hadn't heard Harry use that term before, but he and Dean both knew without asking that he meant the magic chamber.
"Phil," Harry continued, slipping back into the authoritarian voice that reminded Sam of their father. "I'm leaving you out here as lookout."
"Harry - " Phil began, but Harry gave him a glare that made even Sam flinch, and Phil's spine straightened and he responded with a firm "Yessir."
Harry gestured to the door beside Malfoy, and Malfoy turned and walked through first. Sam gave Phil what he hoped was an apologetic smile as he passed through the door.
*
Harry followed behind Malfoy and hoped that he wouldn't regret requesting his presence - well, regret it more so than he already did.
Although Harry did feel bad for getting on Malfoy's bad side immediately by trying to trick him, the look on Malfoy's face when Dean and Sam had stepped around the curtain as themselves again had been worth it. He'd have to show that particular memory to Ron when he got home.
Malfoy's reaction to Dean - as Harry - had been surprising, but then again, Harry had to admit that there was a moment in the alley after Dean had transformed that Harry had felt extremely intimidated. Harry couldn't decide if it was more bizarre to be intimidated by himself, or be intimidated by Deacon. Certainly, hearing Deacon's young voice talk about killing someone - a demon, Harry reminded himself - slowly, as though it had brought him pleasure to do so, was a weird in and of itself. But what it said about the Winchesters - about Sam - was still a jumbled mess in Harry's head.
Harry was so lost in thought, he didn't really take in the foyer to the Department of Mysteries until Dean's voice broke through his thoughts.
"What the...?"
Harry looked around. It was just like home, only instead of a circular room ringed with doors, it was a circular room ringed with staircases that hugged the walls. They slide over each other like snakes, leading to different hallways. Some staircases were only a few steps, and some seemed to reach three or four storeys high.
The odd thing of course was that not all staircases touched the ground, some started arbitrarily halfway up the wall, and others ended just as arbitrarily, leading nowhere. Just as Harry thought it couldn't get anymore complicated, the stairways began to shift, melting into each other, lowering and rising through each other as though they were made of mercury, changing directions and end points, until staircases that touched the floor before no longer did, and some that seemed accessible to the agile, now lay out of reach high above their heads. It all happened noiselessly, unlike the moving staircases at Hogwarts which tended to announce themselves with a grinding of stone on stone.
Harry's eyes settled on Malfoy, who was looking at Dean and Sam with a superior smirk on his face.
"You'd like to visit the Celestial Chamber of the Tuatha Dé Danann?" Malfoy asked to confirm.
"That's right," Harry said.
Malfoy raised his wand and pointed it at the upper level of hallways, and spoke the words Tuatha Dé Danann again. the stairs once again shifted, melting into each other until they formed a single staircase that wound itself four times around the room.
"If your two large friends are done trying to catch flies..." Malfoy drawled, trailing off purposefully, as he made his way to the climb the stairs. Harry glanced at the Winchesters just in time to see them snap their jaws closed in unison and look embarrassed. With a small laugh, Harry picked up his pace and caught up with Malfoy, hearing the Winchesters casually fall into step behind him.
"Wanting access to files, I understand," Malfoy said, as they finally reached the hallway at the top of the stairs. "But why do you need the Chamber? You must know what it does. You must know that it's not to be...toyed with."
"I'm well aware of what it does," Harry answered calmly. "It's why I need it." In the name of keeping the peace, he left off the word 'obviously' and the eye-roll that he so desperately wanted to tack on to the end of his sentence. Instead, he had to agree that Malfoy was here at great personal risk, and he deserved the truth.
"You're aware of why I'm in the states?" Harry asked.
"Who isn't?" Malfoy answered sarcastically. "Our Savior off to rescue the Americans from Dementors. It's in all the papers." Harry glared at the side of Malfoy's head, and was only mildly surprised that when Malfoy caught Harry's eyes, he actually gave Harry a small sheepish smile.
"We've been working on it, as well," Malfoy offered in a detached professional tone. "The Department of Mysteries, I mean. The Dementor movements, we think they're just a symptom of something larger..." Malfoy trailed off as they came to rest in front of a large black stone door.
"Do you know what the something larger is?" Sam suddenly asked.
"Sam," Dean said in warning. Sam shot him an annoyed glance.
"No," Malfoy stated, glancing suspiciously at the two brothers again, before turning back to Harry. "So, Potter, why do you need the chamber?"
"I'm going to make the Winchesters some Patronus charms," Harry answered. Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"How kind of you," Malfoy drawled, "but can't they do that themselves?" Now it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Uh, no, Malfoy. They're Muggles," Harry answered slowly, and yes, Harry would have to share this memory with Ron as well.
Malfoy glanced back at the Winchesters, eyes wide. Sam looked concerned, but Dean just smirked at Malfoy and raised his hand in a little wave, as though Malfoy was seeing them for the first time. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
"You..." Malfoy began, fumbling for words, "I...You...just had me take Muggles into the Department of Mysteries?!"
"It's ok, man, they're cool," Harry answered in his best stoned-American accent, causing Dean to laugh, and Malfoy to pale even further. Harry was slightly saddened by the fact that Malfoy would never get the joke, and eventually just took pity on him.
"Listen, we find that file, you'll hopefully see why I did this," Harry explained, "in the meantime, we need to use the Chamber before the moon sets, and I'll need you to manage the alignment for me."
Malfoy still looked like he was trying to decide whether he should hyperventilate or kill Harry, or both, but much to Harry's relief, he just managed to nod and step away from door.
"Thanks, ma-...lfoy" Harry stated, tripping over his tongue when he realized he was about to call Malfoy, 'mate'.
Harry swung open the door and ushered Dean and Sam into the room. Sam immediately went to the walls and started tracing the etches in the black stone with his fingertips. Dean strode into the centre of the room and peered up at the slit in the ceiling.
"Is this onyx?" Sam asked, but didn't wait for an answer, "these crystals here, what are they?"
"You'll have approximately twenty minutes, once the room is in position," Malfoy said from the doorway, ignoring Sam's questions. "I'll give you a few minutes to set up, and then I'm shifting the room. You cock this up, and I'm gone - I'm not even calling the Healers, do you understand?"
"Loud and clear, Malfoy," Harry replied. "I'm well aware what house you were in."
"Gryffindork," Malfoy muttered, as he slipped out the heavy door and pulled it closed behind him.
"What did he just call you?" Dean asked.
"It doesn't matter," Harry smiled, moving to sit directly underneath the slit in the ceiling, "Alright, positions! I want Sam sitting cross-legged right here, hands on your knees," and Harry pointed to a smooth floor stone to his right. "and Dean right there, same sitting style," and Harry motioned to a smooth stone to his left.
The Winchesters moved immediately to their positions. While Harry settled down cross-legged on the floor himself, placing his forearms on his knees and holding his wand carefully in both hands. They formed a triangle in the centre of the room, the slitted ceiling bisecting them from Harry's point to the base between Dean and Sam.
"We should feel the chamber shift" Harry explained, "Once Draco has it into position, we'll have about twenty minutes to get this right. What I need from you two is for you to stay very still and concentrate. I need you to think of your happiest memories. Any moments in your life when you felt the most content, the most joy, the most love. I need you to hold those moments in your head and focus all your attention on them."
Harry looked at the Winchesters, both looked mildly concerned. He had been afraid of this.
"Um, it doesn't necessarily have to be a real memory..." Harry started, "I mean...it helps if it is. I'd prefer if it was. But the first time I did this I chose something that had never actually experienced...I chose an illusion that I had seen once of my mum and dad. I think..." Harry frowned at what he was about to say, and hoped for the best. "I think the memories with love are the best ones to use for this."
Harry watched as Sam nodded, and Dean averted his eyes from Harry, put on a look of determination, and then nodded. The sound of stone on stone filled the air as the sky cleared and the stars shifted above them.
"Ok, here we go..."
*
Harry closed his eyes, but Sam watched as the first narrow beam of moonlight found its way through the slit in the ceiling. For the first few seconds, that was it - just one beam of moonlight cutting through the room. Then it shifted, poured in a little more, and caught in one of the crystals that lined the chamber in intricate patterns.
The muted light reflected out at an angle, catching another crystal that had been hidden in darkness across the room, and was reflected again, and again, and again, around the room. In a matter of seconds, the previously shadowed room was awash in a fine light that held an eerie ting of blue.
Sam watched enraptured as the light seemed to intensify and Harry took an audible deep breath, as though someone had placed cold fingers at the base of his spine...or - Sam blushed - warm fingers elsewhere. A small beatific smile spread across Harry's face, as a sourceless wind seemed to swirl around him. Harry's hair was once again lifted off his forehead, revealing the odd zigzag scar.
Sam glanced over to Dean, only to see that he too was staring at Harry. Dean sensed Sam's gaze and met his eyes, a mutual look of 'what have we gotten ourselves into?' passed between them.
As if sensing their thoughts, Harry chose that moment to open his eyes. It did nothing to assuage their fears. Sam was quite used to the brilliant green of Harry's eyes. Hell, he had looked into similar eyes everyday of his life, save the four years he spent at Stanford. But now Harry's eyes carried something else behind them, something that seemed to shine through them, making them even brighter - more brilliant, more pure. Whatever the crystals were doing to the light of the moon, it was filling Harry with more power - more magic. Sam swallowed, suddenly realizing just how much him and Dean were trusting this stranger.
"Relax," Harry said, voice even and smooth. "Close your eyes. Think of your happiest memory. Don't let me distract you. Concentrate on the memories, ignore my presence. I'll start with Dean."
Sam laid his misgivings aside. Harry had only tried to help them so far. He closed his eyes and waited...
"Legilimens"
Chapter 13
Masterpost
Author: ME!
Fandoms: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Warnings: Spoilers for all Harry Potter books, Spoilers up to 4x17 for Supernatural.
Disclaimer: Sam and Dean belong to Kripke, Harry Potter belongs to Rowling.
A/N: I thought that the Battle of Hogwarts took place in Spring 1997...so that's what I based my timeline on. Since then I've seen that most sources have it in 1998. Ah well. In this story it's 1997.
A/N to chap 12: Does this count as a double update week? I think it'll have to. Due to a change in my working schedule, I'm not going to be able to get another update up until the end of next week at the earliest.
Summary: In which the Winchesters meet Malfoy and Harry sets up for some heavy duty spell work.
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Sam's heart leap into his throat and he felt the familiar kick of adrenaline and made to move forward, only to have Phil put a hand to his chest stopping him. Before Sam could tell him to get the hell off, Harry - the real Harry - was pulling the invisibility cloak off.
"How did you know?" Harry asked innocently, as if there wasn't a wand pointed at Sam's brother's throat.
"You don't intimidate me," Malfoy answered cooly, "never have, never will." He lowered his wand then, and Sam relaxed slightly. "Now, can we get to business? I know Saint Potter can do whatever he wants, but some of us are here at great personal risk, and I don't appreciate being played with."
Sam watched Harry scowl, while he said, "Sorry, Malfoy" as if it pained him.
Malfoy eyed both Dean and Sam in puzzlement and finally said, "If I'm not mistaken, your double here and that bloke in the back are both getting taller."
Sam's eyes widened, as he realized that his perspective was slowly changing.
"Shit!" Harry said, and with a wave of his wand there was a curtain drawn over part of the hallway, "Behind the curtain! Clothes off before you wreck my favorite jeans!"
Sam and Dean both scrambled, tripping over lengthening limbs as they threw themselves behind the curtain and quickly took their clothes off before any seams burst. Once the clothes were gone, they waited staring wide-eyed at each other until they were finished morphing back into themselves. Then two piled of nearly folded clothes, along with Dean's ring and amulet, levitated themselves around the edge of the curtain. Sam and Dean dressed quickly and stepped back around the curtain, handing Harry the smaller sets of clothes.
"That was a little close for comfort" Dean said in his usual low rumble. Sam saw Malfoy's grey eyes widen, and bit back a smirk.
"And which one of you did I just have at wand point?" Malfoy asked softly.
"That'd be me," Dean said, raising one hand. Malfoy nodded slowly.
"Which makes you," Malfoy's eyes rested on Sam, as he visibly swallowed, "the skinny kid in the back who looked like he wanted to punch me?"
"That's right," Sam said, and if he lowered his voice a little, what did it matter.
"Well," Malfoy said, his grip on his wand tightening even though he had it pointed at the floor. "I can see why you needed to change clothes so quickly." Sam did smile at that, but oddly enough, it only seemed to make the blond wizard more nervous.
"Potter..." Malfoy started, "Care to tell me what the hell you've gotten me into?"
"Right," Harry replied, and Sam could tell he was biting back a smile himself, "Draco Malfoy, I'd like you to meet Dean and Sam Winchester." Harry gestured to them as he spoke their names. "Dean and Sam, this is Draco Malfoy, an old...acquaintance, who happens to work in the Department of Mysteries back in Britain."
"Or did anyway, I'm sure Potter will either get me fired or killed tonight," Malfoy replied, and to Sam's surprise, actually sounded like he believed it.
"You and me both," Phil muttered.
"Oh, sorry, Dra- urr, Malfoy," Harry said. "This is Phil O'Shaughnessy, Senior Auror. Phil, this -"
"I know who Mr. Malfoy is, Harry," Phil answered curtly, surprising Sam with his tone. He watched as Malfoy's eyes shuttered slightly, and only then realized that Malfoy had held himself stiff throughout all the introductions, and hadn't bothered offering his hand to anyone.
"Well..." Harry said into the awkward silence. "Down to business then?"
"Please," Malfoy drawled.
"We need to get into the Department of Mysteries," Harry told Malfoy bluntly. Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"As I recall from our fifth year, you are quite capable of doing that without my help," Malfoy replied, jaw tightening.
"Right," Harry responded, and Sam watched as Harry's own jaw tightened and a darkness seemed to move behind his eyes. "And as you might also recall, that didn't exactly go well."
"Well, you did manage to put my father in Azkaban, beat the Dar -" Malfoy cut himself off suddenly, and heaved a sigh. "Sorry. Why is it that you need my help this time?"
Sam started to understand what Harry had been talking about before. The tension between Harry and Malfoy was stifling. Sam was beginning to wonder why the security guard from upstairs wasn't running down to see what all the awkwardness was about.
"I'm not here for some half-cocked rescue mission," Harry answered. "I need to see the files, and in order to do that, I need an Unspeakable."
"Well then, at your service," Malfoy replied with a casual flourish of his hand. "Though I don't see why you had to put my whole life at risk for a stupid file. You of all people should know what would happen to me if I was discovered breaking as many laws as I've already broken tonight. You nearly wrote my probation terms yourself, as I recall."
"Which is also why you needn't worry about it," Harry responded flippantly.
"Wait, wait," Dean spoke up. Sam knew what was coming because he was thinking it himself. "Azkavan? Files? Probation terms? Harry, what the hell aren't you telling us and who exactly is this guy?!"
Harry passed a hand through his hair, either in an attempt to mess it up further, or smooth it down, Sam couldn't be sure, because, like usual, Harry's hair remained the same regardless.
"The file they have on you guys is in the Department of Mysteries," Harry began, "...the rest you don't need to know about."
Sam watched as Malfoy seemed to eye him and Dean more closely, now that he knew they were the subject of a file in his own department. The look made Sam's skin crawl in the familiar way it did whenever Dean looked at him like he was a freak.
"First thing's first though," Harry continued. "We've got to get you two protected. So, first stop is the Sliabh na Caillighe."
Sam watched as Malfoy's eyes snapped back to Harry, but Harry had already turned his attention elsewhere. Sam hadn't heard Harry use that term before, but he and Dean both knew without asking that he meant the magic chamber.
"Phil," Harry continued, slipping back into the authoritarian voice that reminded Sam of their father. "I'm leaving you out here as lookout."
"Harry - " Phil began, but Harry gave him a glare that made even Sam flinch, and Phil's spine straightened and he responded with a firm "Yessir."
Harry gestured to the door beside Malfoy, and Malfoy turned and walked through first. Sam gave Phil what he hoped was an apologetic smile as he passed through the door.
*
Harry followed behind Malfoy and hoped that he wouldn't regret requesting his presence - well, regret it more so than he already did.
Although Harry did feel bad for getting on Malfoy's bad side immediately by trying to trick him, the look on Malfoy's face when Dean and Sam had stepped around the curtain as themselves again had been worth it. He'd have to show that particular memory to Ron when he got home.
Malfoy's reaction to Dean - as Harry - had been surprising, but then again, Harry had to admit that there was a moment in the alley after Dean had transformed that Harry had felt extremely intimidated. Harry couldn't decide if it was more bizarre to be intimidated by himself, or be intimidated by Deacon. Certainly, hearing Deacon's young voice talk about killing someone - a demon, Harry reminded himself - slowly, as though it had brought him pleasure to do so, was a weird in and of itself. But what it said about the Winchesters - about Sam - was still a jumbled mess in Harry's head.
Harry was so lost in thought, he didn't really take in the foyer to the Department of Mysteries until Dean's voice broke through his thoughts.
"What the...?"
Harry looked around. It was just like home, only instead of a circular room ringed with doors, it was a circular room ringed with staircases that hugged the walls. They slide over each other like snakes, leading to different hallways. Some staircases were only a few steps, and some seemed to reach three or four storeys high.
The odd thing of course was that not all staircases touched the ground, some started arbitrarily halfway up the wall, and others ended just as arbitrarily, leading nowhere. Just as Harry thought it couldn't get anymore complicated, the stairways began to shift, melting into each other, lowering and rising through each other as though they were made of mercury, changing directions and end points, until staircases that touched the floor before no longer did, and some that seemed accessible to the agile, now lay out of reach high above their heads. It all happened noiselessly, unlike the moving staircases at Hogwarts which tended to announce themselves with a grinding of stone on stone.
Harry's eyes settled on Malfoy, who was looking at Dean and Sam with a superior smirk on his face.
"You'd like to visit the Celestial Chamber of the Tuatha Dé Danann?" Malfoy asked to confirm.
"That's right," Harry said.
Malfoy raised his wand and pointed it at the upper level of hallways, and spoke the words Tuatha Dé Danann again. the stairs once again shifted, melting into each other until they formed a single staircase that wound itself four times around the room.
"If your two large friends are done trying to catch flies..." Malfoy drawled, trailing off purposefully, as he made his way to the climb the stairs. Harry glanced at the Winchesters just in time to see them snap their jaws closed in unison and look embarrassed. With a small laugh, Harry picked up his pace and caught up with Malfoy, hearing the Winchesters casually fall into step behind him.
"Wanting access to files, I understand," Malfoy said, as they finally reached the hallway at the top of the stairs. "But why do you need the Chamber? You must know what it does. You must know that it's not to be...toyed with."
"I'm well aware of what it does," Harry answered calmly. "It's why I need it." In the name of keeping the peace, he left off the word 'obviously' and the eye-roll that he so desperately wanted to tack on to the end of his sentence. Instead, he had to agree that Malfoy was here at great personal risk, and he deserved the truth.
"You're aware of why I'm in the states?" Harry asked.
"Who isn't?" Malfoy answered sarcastically. "Our Savior off to rescue the Americans from Dementors. It's in all the papers." Harry glared at the side of Malfoy's head, and was only mildly surprised that when Malfoy caught Harry's eyes, he actually gave Harry a small sheepish smile.
"We've been working on it, as well," Malfoy offered in a detached professional tone. "The Department of Mysteries, I mean. The Dementor movements, we think they're just a symptom of something larger..." Malfoy trailed off as they came to rest in front of a large black stone door.
"Do you know what the something larger is?" Sam suddenly asked.
"Sam," Dean said in warning. Sam shot him an annoyed glance.
"No," Malfoy stated, glancing suspiciously at the two brothers again, before turning back to Harry. "So, Potter, why do you need the chamber?"
"I'm going to make the Winchesters some Patronus charms," Harry answered. Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"How kind of you," Malfoy drawled, "but can't they do that themselves?" Now it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Uh, no, Malfoy. They're Muggles," Harry answered slowly, and yes, Harry would have to share this memory with Ron as well.
Malfoy glanced back at the Winchesters, eyes wide. Sam looked concerned, but Dean just smirked at Malfoy and raised his hand in a little wave, as though Malfoy was seeing them for the first time. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
"You..." Malfoy began, fumbling for words, "I...You...just had me take Muggles into the Department of Mysteries?!"
"It's ok, man, they're cool," Harry answered in his best stoned-American accent, causing Dean to laugh, and Malfoy to pale even further. Harry was slightly saddened by the fact that Malfoy would never get the joke, and eventually just took pity on him.
"Listen, we find that file, you'll hopefully see why I did this," Harry explained, "in the meantime, we need to use the Chamber before the moon sets, and I'll need you to manage the alignment for me."
Malfoy still looked like he was trying to decide whether he should hyperventilate or kill Harry, or both, but much to Harry's relief, he just managed to nod and step away from door.
"Thanks, ma-...lfoy" Harry stated, tripping over his tongue when he realized he was about to call Malfoy, 'mate'.
Harry swung open the door and ushered Dean and Sam into the room. Sam immediately went to the walls and started tracing the etches in the black stone with his fingertips. Dean strode into the centre of the room and peered up at the slit in the ceiling.
"Is this onyx?" Sam asked, but didn't wait for an answer, "these crystals here, what are they?"
"You'll have approximately twenty minutes, once the room is in position," Malfoy said from the doorway, ignoring Sam's questions. "I'll give you a few minutes to set up, and then I'm shifting the room. You cock this up, and I'm gone - I'm not even calling the Healers, do you understand?"
"Loud and clear, Malfoy," Harry replied. "I'm well aware what house you were in."
"Gryffindork," Malfoy muttered, as he slipped out the heavy door and pulled it closed behind him.
"What did he just call you?" Dean asked.
"It doesn't matter," Harry smiled, moving to sit directly underneath the slit in the ceiling, "Alright, positions! I want Sam sitting cross-legged right here, hands on your knees," and Harry pointed to a smooth floor stone to his right. "and Dean right there, same sitting style," and Harry motioned to a smooth stone to his left.
The Winchesters moved immediately to their positions. While Harry settled down cross-legged on the floor himself, placing his forearms on his knees and holding his wand carefully in both hands. They formed a triangle in the centre of the room, the slitted ceiling bisecting them from Harry's point to the base between Dean and Sam.
"We should feel the chamber shift" Harry explained, "Once Draco has it into position, we'll have about twenty minutes to get this right. What I need from you two is for you to stay very still and concentrate. I need you to think of your happiest memories. Any moments in your life when you felt the most content, the most joy, the most love. I need you to hold those moments in your head and focus all your attention on them."
Harry looked at the Winchesters, both looked mildly concerned. He had been afraid of this.
"Um, it doesn't necessarily have to be a real memory..." Harry started, "I mean...it helps if it is. I'd prefer if it was. But the first time I did this I chose something that had never actually experienced...I chose an illusion that I had seen once of my mum and dad. I think..." Harry frowned at what he was about to say, and hoped for the best. "I think the memories with love are the best ones to use for this."
Harry watched as Sam nodded, and Dean averted his eyes from Harry, put on a look of determination, and then nodded. The sound of stone on stone filled the air as the sky cleared and the stars shifted above them.
"Ok, here we go..."
*
Harry closed his eyes, but Sam watched as the first narrow beam of moonlight found its way through the slit in the ceiling. For the first few seconds, that was it - just one beam of moonlight cutting through the room. Then it shifted, poured in a little more, and caught in one of the crystals that lined the chamber in intricate patterns.
The muted light reflected out at an angle, catching another crystal that had been hidden in darkness across the room, and was reflected again, and again, and again, around the room. In a matter of seconds, the previously shadowed room was awash in a fine light that held an eerie ting of blue.
Sam watched enraptured as the light seemed to intensify and Harry took an audible deep breath, as though someone had placed cold fingers at the base of his spine...or - Sam blushed - warm fingers elsewhere. A small beatific smile spread across Harry's face, as a sourceless wind seemed to swirl around him. Harry's hair was once again lifted off his forehead, revealing the odd zigzag scar.
Sam glanced over to Dean, only to see that he too was staring at Harry. Dean sensed Sam's gaze and met his eyes, a mutual look of 'what have we gotten ourselves into?' passed between them.
As if sensing their thoughts, Harry chose that moment to open his eyes. It did nothing to assuage their fears. Sam was quite used to the brilliant green of Harry's eyes. Hell, he had looked into similar eyes everyday of his life, save the four years he spent at Stanford. But now Harry's eyes carried something else behind them, something that seemed to shine through them, making them even brighter - more brilliant, more pure. Whatever the crystals were doing to the light of the moon, it was filling Harry with more power - more magic. Sam swallowed, suddenly realizing just how much him and Dean were trusting this stranger.
"Relax," Harry said, voice even and smooth. "Close your eyes. Think of your happiest memory. Don't let me distract you. Concentrate on the memories, ignore my presence. I'll start with Dean."
Sam laid his misgivings aside. Harry had only tried to help them so far. He closed his eyes and waited...
"Legilimens"
Chapter 13
Masterpost