Fic: Poison The Heart
Title: Poison The Heart
Author: Wyndewalker
Xover Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Xander/Draco Malfoy
Series: 5 More Relatives Xander Never Met
Challenge: twistedshorts August-Fic-A-Day - Day 15, 2013 Trope Bingo Round 2 - Character in Distress
Authors note: Post Deathly Hallows but not Epilogue compliant. Not even close
Rating: PG
Warning: Slash
Word Count: 2,283 according to Word
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All rights belong to their owners and I merely borrow the characters for your amusement.
Summary: When Xander is poisoned Willow and Draco race against time to find a cure.
The playground Xander was standing in resembled a battleground far more than it did a safe place for children to play at the moment. Granted the half dozen demons and 19 vampires currently ranged against him and the 4 mini-Slayers he'd been patrolling with could have something to do with it.
No. Make that 15 vampires and five demons.
They'd been jumped so fast none of them had had a chance to call for backup. Sure Xander could break the amulet he wore which would alert the magic users of trouble but Willow, and Draco, tended to react to amulet breakage in a big way. Especially his.
He'd much rather wait until it looked like there was no hope before going that route.
Swinging his axe, Xander decapitated his second vampire of the evening, watching it turn to dust with a sense of satisfaction. His mini-Slayers tended to be a tad over-protective, though thankfully not as smothering as Buffy or Willow, so it was amazing he'd gotten to dust one, much less two. He only had a moments warning; a sense of something on his blind side, but before he could react he felt a sharp sting in his side just below his ribcage.
It felt like someone had suddenly replaced his blood with molten lava. He didn't know if he screamed; Xander suspected the answer was yes, but he couldn't seem to think much beyond the pain. The pain was everything now, all-consuming.
One part of his brain that wasn't writhing in agony idly wondered that he hadn't passed out yet. Wasn't there a point at which your brain simply shutdown from too much pain? He could only assume he hadn't reached his threshold yet. That really kinda sucked.
Suddenly the pain eased slightly, enough that he could hear voices. Forcing his eye open, he was able to make out Willow and Draco leaning over him. Tears flowed freely down Willow's cheeks while Draco had the pinched angry look he got when he was upset and trying not to show it.
"Oh, Xander," Willow half-sobbed. "The-the demon poisoned you. But don't worry! We're going to find a cure. I promise. I'm going to put you in a stasis spell to give us a little more time but we will make you better."
"Bloody right we will," Draco snapped. "We'll cure you and then you and I will go hunt down the bastard who gave those demons their orders and make them pay or my name isn't Draco Malfoy! No one hurts my mate and gets away with it."
Xander was sure there had to be a sappy grin on his face. "D-d-dray..."
"Shh, love. Don't try to talk. You need to conserve your strength."
"L-l-love ou."
"Soppy muggle git," Draco sighed.
"Draco," Willow warned.
He brushed back Xander's sweat-soaked hair. "I love you too, Xander. Now go to sleep." He waved his hand over Xander's face as he whispered, "Dormio."
A single tear rolled down Draco's cheek. He gently kissed Xander's fevered brow then backed away from the bed they'd laid him on. He watched Willow's hair bleed to white as power gathered around her in swirls of colored light. She chanted softly until Xander's body glowed brightly. When she stopped the glow dimmed until he returned to normal except for a light blue tinge to his skin.
Willow quickly scanned him, checking the poison's progress. She let out a soft sigh.
*******
"We have two weeks, three at the most," Willow said to those gathered in the Council room. The term gathered was used in the loosest sense of the word as Willow, Draco, and Caridad the lead Slayer for Cleveland, were the only ones actually in the room. Everyone else was video-conferenced in from where they were stationed around the world.
Giles and Abigail from the Devon Coven in England. Buffy and Dawn in Rome, Italy. Kennedy in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Faith and Robin Wood in Melbourne, Australia. And Faisal and Samirah, lead Watcher and Slayer respectively, in Cairo, Egypt. Both of whom had been hand-picked by Xander and Draco when they decided to retire from Africa and takeover Cleveland.
"Do you have an accurate description of the demon?" Giles asked.
"Yes. It's being facsimiled to you all now," Draco replied. "Using a pensieve I was able to sketch the demon from the girls' memories of it. It's bi-pedal, though clearly insect-like. My guess is the scorpion family judging by the tail and stinger." Draco leaned back in his chair, a picture of calm except for the restless tapping of his fingers.
"Ugly," Buffy commented when one of the mini-Slayers handed her the faxed over sketch. "What happens if we don't figure out how to cure him in two weeks? Xander becomes popsicle boy?"
"He dies, Summers," Draco snapped.
"Draco," Willow said reprovingly, laying a hand on his arm. When he subsided she looked at Buffy. "Draco's right, Buffy. If we don't find the cure within two weeks Xander will die. The stasis spell has only slowed the poison, not stopped it completely. To do that I would have to stop his blood flow which would just kill him quicker."
"Oh. I thought this stasis thingy could keep him alive indefinitely?"
"If he were healthy or if it were some other type of injury or even illness the answer would be yes, but not poison." Willow turned her attention to Giles. "This was a specifically aimed attack, Giles. Someone wants Xander dead or seriously injured in an attempt to distract them here from something happening. Draco, Caridad and I have already revised the patrol groups and routes, but Emily and Phaedra were both badly injured. Even with Draco's healing potions it's going to be at least a week before either of them can patrol again and Marissa is in the second trimester of her pregnancy so she can't patrol either. We need at least two or more extra Slayers here..."
"I'm on the first plane there, Red," Faith interrupted sharing a quick glance with Robin who gave a resigned nod.
"Thank you, Faith," Willow nodded. "We also need an experienced field Watcher here. Someone who can patrol with the Slayers and focus more on *why* Xander was attacked rather than on curing him."
"Of course. I think I have just the person in mind. And we will all, of course, begin work on identifying this demon." Giles looked to Draco. "Do you think there is anyone in your former society who might be able to help?"
He shook his head glaring at a spot somewhere above the monitors. "No. I don't trust most of them not to bungle it up somehow. Everyone else is either dead or won't come near me because my blasted father was a Death Eater. Doesn't matter that I fought for the good guys, like father like son is the prevailing sentiment."
"Of course. Then we shall leave that as a last resort. Let us all to work then."
Faisal and Samirah disconnected first after giving their best wishes. Faith and Robin were next.
"I'll give you a call as soon as I've booked a flight and have an ETA, Red. Hold tight, Dragon."
"Tell Xander we love him and if you need anything don't hesitate to call," Dawn said before they disconnected.
Kennedy looked at Willow. "So at least two weeks before you're back?"
"I'm sorry, baby, but I'm needed here. Call me if there's an emergency."
"Yeah. See you in two weeks."
"I love..."
Kennedy disconnected before Willow finished.
She flushed avoiding Giles and Abigail's gently concerned looks. Giles finally cleared his throat.
"I'll have a Watcher and two more Slayers on a plane within three hours. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything, either of you. Even if it's just to rant about lack of progress," he said with a smile. "I'm proud of all of you and I know Xander is as well. We will find a cure for this."
"Thanks, Giles," Willow smiled tremulously. Draco just gave a sharp nod. A moment later the England screen went blank as well.
Willow sighed looking at Caridad. "Will you have a problem working with Faith?"
"No. It shouldn't be a problem. She is willing to work with others and not just take over." Caridad shrugged.
It didn't need to be said just which Slayer had a tendency to try and takeover and play General. They all admitted there was a time when that was necessary, but no longer. The Potentials who had been at the Final Battle of Sunnydale and many of the older activated Potentials had long since proven their worth and ability to work in groups.
"Good. Would you make sure everyone gets ready for school? Draco and I will be out in a minute."
Caridad nodded, rising from her seat. She gently squeezed Draco's shoulder in comfort before she left the room.
Willow watched Draco who was still staring at a spot above the monitors. "Draco,..."
"You know that little twit is cheating on you right?"
Willow sighed. "Yes, I've suspected but no changing the subject, mister. How are you holding up?"
A muscle twitched in his jaw but he did look over at her. "What do you think, Rosenberg?"
Willow sighed again. “I think you’re handling this about as well as I am Kennedy.” She leaned over and hugged him, smiling to herself when he stiffened slightly but didn’t pull away. “We’ll find a cure. Don’t you worry. And when Xander is all better you to can take a vacation together. Jus the two of you. Maybe somewhere warm like the Bahamas or oh, oh, like Hawaii. That’d be nice, don’t you think?”
Draco rolled his eyes. “You do realize I’m English, right? I practically burst into flames if I even think about going in the sun.”
“Pfft. You’re blonde not undead. I’ll make up some 100 SPF sunblock that you can have Xander rub allll over you. It’s a tough job but I know he’d love doing it.” She smirked at the glazed look on his face. Grabbing his arm, Willow pulled him up from his chair. “Come on, Draco. We’ve got Slayers to get off to school and dusty books to pour through.”
He rolled his eyes but followed her. “You need to work on your cheering up tactics, Rosenberg.”
**************
Five days later they’d found a cure but it required the blood of a close blood relative to work. As far as Willow knew all of Xander’s remaining close relatives had died in Sunnydale when it collapsed. Not wanting to give up just yet Draco had come up with the idea of doing a simple family tree potion that would let them know if he had any living relatives within a couple of generations. It was almost ready.
Draco checked his watch then checked the color of the potion. He double-checked the potion book. The potion appeared to be the correct shade of pale blue. He looked over at Willow who smiled encouragingly at him as she handed him the small vial of blood they had drawn from Xander. Using an eyedropper, he put ten drops of blood into the potion.
The reaction was instantaneous. It began to bubble and roll; white smoked seeped up then down over the sides of the cauldron. After a minute the smoke dissipated and the surface of the potion calmed to a gentle bubbling as it turned a rich ruby red.
So far so good, he thought.
"The parchment please."
Willow handed him a 2ft by 3ft piece of white oaktag paper. Draco rolled his eyes. There were some days he truly missed having access to true Wizarding supplies. Nevertheless he laid it out on the table. He ladled some of the potion into a vial which he then held over the paper. Taking a deep breath, Draco carefully poured some out onto the paper.
The oaktag quickly absorbed the potion, pulsing a dark red before it faded away to white again. Draco centered himself as Willow had taught him then held his hand out over the paper. "Aperio."
At first nothing happened but soon Xander's full name appeared in the center of the sheet in red. Other names quickly began to form. Most were in black indicating the person was deceased but a few were listed in red like Xander's. Draco and Willow stared at the paper in shock.
Draco was the first to move, reaching blindly for a chair and sinking down into it. It was only then that he remembered he still had the vial of potion clutched in his hand. He quickly put it into the tray then sank back into the chair, never really coming out of his shock.
Willow finally shook herself, turning from the family tree to look at Draco. "Are you sure you did it right?"
The scathing look he gave her was quite eloquent. "Yes, I'm sure I did it right. The potion was done bloody perfectly." He frowned. "Pun not intended. It was still perfectly done. Wand or Wandless magic doesn't matter for this except that without my wand I can't reveal more than two generations of the same branch. Not that it matters for this since much further out and the blood connection is too thin to help with the cure. Who cares though since Xander apparently has a still living relative. I can't bloody believe this. While it’s great that he’s not related to those horrible wastes of space who’d claimed to be his parents I’d really like to know how the Wizarding world never knew that the bloody Boy Who Lived has a twin brother?"