HP and the Price. Here comes Draco. (Patreon)

Severus was counting his stirs when a shimmer ran through the potions lab. With a quiet curse, he started to cast a stasis charm that would probably not save his potions, but a Fae stepped in front of him. With a wave of his hand, the potion had been returned to it’s original state. Powdered unicorn horn filled one crucible, boomslang blood returned to its vial, the anjelica leaves were once again whole and the flabberghasted leech was once again alive and wriggling. It was such a massive display of power that it left Severus breathless, and yet the Fae simply held out his hand as if the act was not worthy of comment.

Severus was shocked that the Fae had come for him, but Severus didn’t lie to himself about having a choice. He put his hand in the Fae’s and held his breath as the Fae pulled him through the darkness before they stepped out. It took Severus a few seconds to recognize the dark hallway somewhere in Hogwarts.

The recognition made something sharp pull in Severus’s gut. This would have been his life if he hadn’t performed his ritual. This would have been his home and his prison ten months a year. Albus would have been his savior and his jailer. For the few years after being released from Azkaban, Severus had seen the trap he’d stepped into when he’d turned on the Dark Lord to vow his support for Albus’s schemes.

Severus looked at the Fae, but they gestured toward the stairs. Perhaps Severus had been ejected from his home. That made his heart pound. Severus didn’t know the situation in the rest of the world, but he wasn’t prepared to rejoin the fight, not when both sides had claims to his loyalty and his only loyalty was to the child he’d vowed to protect. However, Severus had no illusions.

He started down the stairs, but he hadn’t gone even halfway before he saw a small form huddled against the railing. The child jerked when Severus came close, and Severus recognized the shock of blond-white hair. “Draco?”

The boy unfolded his limbs and stood, although he held the railing for dear life and his breath was ragged. “Who are you?”

“Oh Draco,” Severus said when he saw the boy’s haggard features and red eyes. Draco was the same age as Harry, but he looked ancient and frail.

“Uncle Severus?” The words were full of desperation and fear.

Severus raised his hand to Draco’s shoulder, and a half second later, Draco threw himself at Severus like he had when he’d been five years old and he’d thrown himself at Severus before asking what he’d brought as a gift.

Severus hugged the shaking boy. “What’s wrong?”

“Where have you been?”

“I made a deal with the Fae. They took me away, but I’m here now. Draco, what’s wrong?” Something had to be horrifically wrong for the Fae to get involved. And based on the other children and young adults who had been brought to Prince Keep, Severus suspected it had something to do with the Dark Lord.

Draco pulled away and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. “The Fae? Father said you traded your life to have the Boy Who Once Survived killed in order to clear the way for the Dark Lord.”

“Your father does not know everything.” For some reason, that made Draco shrink away from him.

“He doesn’t know much of anything right now,” Draco said, his voice bitter and dark.

“Draco?”

Severus still had a hand on Draco’s shoulder, but Draco now jerked himself away. “What do you want? Why are you here?”

“I want to help you,” Severus said softly.

Draco scoffed. “Are you going to cast the killing curse for me?”

Severus sucked in a quick breath. “That is not something to jest about.”

Draco rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not joking.”

“Then who are you planning to kill?”

“Bumblebore,” Draco said. If he was afraid to even say Dumbledore’s name, there was a chance he meant what he said.

Severus took a deep breath. He didn’t know what had driven Draco to this point, so he had no right to judge. After all, he had harbored more than one murderous thought about Dumbledore himself, especially after Lily died.

Draco continued in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper. “My father is in Azkaban and the Dark Lord said that if I could not kill Bumblebore that he would have my mother tortured, but every plot has failed. I’m going to fail and the Dark Lord is going to make my mother suffer. I don’t know what to do.” He sank back down onto the steps.

Severus tucked his robes close and sat next to him. “I have known the Dark Lord far longer than you. He does not expect you to succeed in your mission.”

“He doesn’t?” Draco sounded so hopeful that Severus hated to crush that tiny spark.

“He expects you to die, and through your death, he hopes to further punish your father. The Dark Lord always punishes his inner elite far more severely than anyone else.”

“I’m a marked follower,” Draco confessed in the smallest of whispers.

Severus put an arm around Draco’s shoulders. “I had hoped he would never return, and if he did, I had hoped your father would have the good sense to send you far, far away. But since he did not, I suspect you had no choice.”

Draco shook his head. “I didn’t.” He took a breath. “Uncle Severus, what am I supposed to do?”

Severus knew what he wanted to do, but the choice was not his. He twisted around to look up into the darkness above them. In a few seconds, the Fae with their monsterous beauty glided down the stairs. Draco bolted to his feet, and Severus moved to stand between the Fae and the boy.

“I gave myself to the Fae. I belong to them, but they brought me here. I believe they are willing to give you sanctuary, but you have to choose.”

Draco’s voice was nearly strangled as he said, “My mother.”

“The Dark Lord will assume you died and the headmaster hid the evidence to avoid any accusation that he killed you,” Severus said. He was not fool enough to use Dumbledore’s name inside Hogwarts, but he refused to participate in the wizarding tradition of using ridiculous nicknames. “That will be punishment enough to distract him from your mother, and while she will suffer at the idea that you are lost, she will not have to face the Dark Lord’s ire,” Severus promised.

Draco was almost trembling, but when the Fae held out their hand and Severus stepped aside, Draco gave him a hesitant look before taking the Fae’s hand. The Fae held out their other hand to Severus, and in a blink, all three vanished from Hogwarts.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Severus walked into the kitchen. Diggory and Delacour sat at one end of the table, their heads close as they talked. Thea was leaning against the counter, stealing bits of food as Harry was cooking, and Dinae had her nose in a book of curses. He really should discourage her bloodthirsty tendencies, but they were all going toward war, so her interest was logical.

“Everyone,” Severus said. They all turned in his direction. “I would like to introduce my godson, Draco Malfoy.”

Diggory’s eyes narrowed and Delacour looked curious as Draco stepped out from behind Severus. He had his head up in a pose that he likely thought looked noble. His father had modeled the expression often enough. Unfortunately, both Draco and Lucius looked like prats when they used it.

“Draco!” Thea said happily. Severus was glad his grandson was likely to have one ally in the house, at least assuming he didn’t say something stupid about her choice to change her body to match her soul. Severus hadn’t seen Draco since he had been a spoiled little boy who drove tutors to distraction. He didn’t know the young man he had become.

“I’m sorry. Do we know each other?” Draco asked with an almost flirtation smile.

“I don’t know. We lived together for a year, so I hope we know each other.” Thea laughed. “If someone is sharing a bathroom with Draco, fair warning, he is a bathroom hog.”

Draco’s mouth fell open. “I’ve never… I wouldn’t live with a young woman.”

“Hogwarts?” Harry asked.

Thea nodded.

Ignoring Draco’s confusion, Harry wiped his hands on a towel. “Nice to meet you. I’m Harry Potter, and before you comment that I’m supposed to be dead, I’m not.” Harry held out his hand to shake, and Draco took it after a second. “Welcome to Prince Keep. Would you like some fried potatoes and bacon?”

“Um… yes?” Draco looked around. “Cedric Diggory. I had heard you vanished.”

“I suppose you’ve vanished as well, Malfoy.” He didn’t hid his disgust, and Draco’s back went even stiffer. Severus rested his hand on Draco’s shoulder in a silent show of support.

“My parents know your parents,” Dinae said when everyone else was silent too long. “I’m Dinae Medusa Carrow, the eldest of the Carrow daughters, but I’m not interested in any suitors, so if you want to chase someone, pick one of the other girls. Or boy. I don’t care.” She shrugged. For the second time, Draco seemed lost for words.

“Subtle, Dinae,” Thea said with an eyeroll. “Since you don’t remember me, I’ll give you a hint. I’m the only child of Surlinian Nott.”

“Theo?” Draco blurted.

“Close. Thea,” she said, emphasizing the last letter. Severus knew her well enough to read the stress in the set of her shoulders. Harry must have recognized the same because he moved closer to her.

“Oh.” Draco sounded lost.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Dinea demanded.

“What? No. I didn’t say anything.”

Dinae snorted. “You weren’t saying it loudly. I want to go duel. I’m going to see if anyone is in the dueling room.” She abandoned her book of curses and pranced out of the room. She was in a strange mood.

“I wanted to get in some flying,” Diggory said. He stood and held out his hand to Delacour. She took it, but that didn’t stop her from watching with undisguised curiosity. Severus hoped his godson would find sanctuary in Prince Keep, but he couldn’t do anything to convince the others to accept him, especially since Severus didn’t know what sort of relationship Draco had with the others in the past. Diggory left the room without looking back.

Regulus opened the kitchen door and stopped dead, no doubt sensing the tension in the air.

“Do you have a problem?” Thea asked in a deceptively soft voice.

“What?” Draco’s voice broke. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, Nott.”

“He’s trying to not have a problem. Cut him some slack,” Harry said. He’d always been the quickest of the children to forgive, not that Severus could really call any of them children anymore. “So, did the Fae bring you?”

Draco looked at Severus as though looking for support. Severus raised one eyebrow. “Yes?”

“The Dark Lord had put Draco in an impossible situation, one where he was likely to die.”

“One of these days, I would love to figure out why they save some people and not others,” Regulus said when the room was silent for too long. Regulus had an ability to smooth over difficult conversations, and Severus was grateful for his lover’s presence. He moved to Regulus’s side and touched his waist. When Severus turned back around to look at the room, Draco’s eyebrows were so high that his eyes were huge.

“Come get something to eat,” Harry said as he turned back to the stove. Severus couldn’t smooth the way for his godson, so hopefully Harry would. After all, the young man would have been a Hufflepuff without a doubt. Then again, it seemed like the only confirmed Hufflepuff in the Keep had decided to keep his distance. Perhaps the sorting hat was not as wise as Dumbledore claimed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Draco sat on the platform and watched Thea dance through a fight with two Fae. He… no she. It was easy to call Thea a “she” when he watched her, but he still struggled when he thought of studious Theo who would sit cross-legged in the middle of his bed in the Slytherin dorms, reading while the rest of them jockeyed for position in the hierarchy. When he thought of that Theo, Draco couldn’t wrap his head around the choice Theo had made.

He’d given up the chance to be the head of his household.

She’d given up her chance to be the head of her household.

Draco was sometimes confused by people’s motivations. For example, when the Dark Lord had returned, Draco could not understand why his father had ever pledged himself to such a monster. The Dark Lord had enjoyed hurting even his most loyal. Draco had trembled when he’d seen his father crawl on the floor to touch the Dark Lord’s hem. And still, his father had handed Draco over to be marked.

However, Draco could theoretically understand his father. When the Dark Lord had all the power, it made more sense to ingratiate himself to that power so he only had to bow to one master and could retain his power over others. Draco didn’t understand why Thea would give up the advantage of maleness, though. If Granger wanted to be a man, that would make sense.

She was adequate at fighting and brilliant, even though he would never tell her that. If she were a man or became a man, she could become the head of her household and by the time her grandchildren or great-grandchildren were ready for Hogwarts, she could establish a House. If she were a man, that is. While the sexist nature of wixen society wasn’t fair, that didn’t change reality. So he would understand if Granger wanted to become a man. However, Thea made no sense.

Thea shimmered out of existence and reappeared behind the Fae, casting a killing curse before shimmering away. But when she reappeared, she materialized right in front of a stunning hex. She went down in a heap. On the opposite side of the dueling room, Carrow and Granger watched with Harry Potter.

Harry bloody Potter.

That was another thing Draco could not understand. Potter was supposed to be dead. The Dark Lord had praised his inner circle for killing the boy. Draco had been raised to believe that killing a magic child was unforgivable, but apparently the rules were different when the Dark Lord was involved.

“My turn,” Dinae said. She danced down the stairs as one of the Fae woke Thea. Thea groaned as she pushed herself up onto her feet.

“That hurt.”

“Baby,” Dinae said.

Thea brushed off her skirt, but instead of heading over to where Harry waited, she came to the stair that led to Draco’s balcony. He turned to face her as she came up to the balcony.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“This place is insane.” That was more honesty than Draco had meant to share.

Thea grinned at him. One of the Fae had moved to the side, leaving her fighting one. “She’s not as good as you are,” Draco observed.

“At offensive magic? No. But she’s better at charms. When we go into the field, she’s the one who has to accomplish whatever task we’ve been given.”

“By the Fae,” Draco said. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that these creatures who were more myth than fact were so involved in Uncle Severus’s life. There were many issues that he was struggling to wrap his head around.

“Yep.”

“Do they talk?”

Thea settled next to him to watch Dinae’s fight. “No, but Harry is terrifying good at interpret the images they share.”

Draco nodded. He didn’t know what else to say. Dinae was a lot more aggressive than Thea, but she went down quicker to her one opponent than Thea had when fighting both Fae.

“Damn it,” she cursed when walking off the dueling field. Harry took her place, and Neville Longbottom appeared at the door. Longbottom. Draco remembered him as a pudgy and frightened little boy, not the confident man who strode into the room with a Fae wand strapped to one arm and one of the short blades these people favored on the other. He looked at both balconies before moving toward the one where Dinae was climbing the stairs.

“Can I ask something?” Draco asked. Politeness and strategy suggested he should keep silent, but he had never been good at ignoring a mystery. He would rather offend in private where, hopefully, Thea would forgive more easily than the others. Granger hated him, Dinae was as vindictive as Aunt Bella and Diggory took every opportunity to glare at him, so he definitely couldn’t say anything around them.

“Sure,” Thea said easily.

“Aren’t you afraid that you’ve giving up a lot of power by turning yourself into a woman?”

Thea’s eyebrows went up. “Excuse me?”

Draco huffed. Thea knew what he was talking about. “Men are the head of the households. My mother is from a much more prestigious family as a Black, but she has to follow father’s lead in alliances.” Draco didn’t say it, but that had been a mistake since his father had led them to the Dark Lord. His mother kept her opinions to herself, but she’d never said anything to support the Dark Lord’s position on muggleborns. He hadn’t noticed that until he had been marked. “Don’t you worry that you’ll marry some man that will make poor alliances?”

“Who says I plan to allow a man to make my alliances?” Thea asked.

“But you turned yourself into a woman. You don’t have a choice,” Draco said, his voice rising. Harry glanced up from dueling floor. Draco still couldn’t believe that he had been invited to exchanged first names with Harry bleeding Potter.

Thea sighed. “Draco, what do you remember of me from Hogwarts?”

Draco shrugged. “You were quiet. You read a lot.”

“I didn’t interact with anyone because everyone treated me like a boy,” Thea said.

Draco frowned.

“I was a girl, even then,” Thea said. “My body didn’t show that, and Hogwarts put me in a room full of boys when I knew I was a girl. I didn’t say anything because I was intensely uncomfortable.”

Draco opened his mouth, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.

Thea turned to the action on the dueling floor. Harry Potter was holding his own against both Fae. He shimmered, cast a curse and then shimmered out of existence. He moved so fast that Draco couldn’t even follow the action. The Dark Lord believed Dumbledore was his enemy, but Draco thought Potter might be able to defeat both the older wizards.

“Really?” Draco finally asked.

Thea gave him an amused look. “Really.”

Draco wrinkled his nose. “Hogwarts made a girl sleep in the same room with a bunch of boys, including Greg and Vince?” Draco knew both had loyalty to the Malfoy family, but neither was decorous around girls.

Thea grimaced. “Those two are a big part of why I hid behind books.”

“If I were a girl, I’d avoid them too,” Draco said. “I still think giving up the advantage of being a man is dangerous.”

“Maybe,” Thea said, “but since I’m not a man, I would rather gain the advantage of being myself. Besides, the man I’ve set my sights on has no interest in choosing my alliances for me.” Thea rested her chin on her hand and looked down as Harry Potter finally fell to the two Fae.

“Oh.” Draco was shocked. First Severus had chosen a male lover with Regulus and now Thea, the last living member of one of the darkest families in the Wizengamot had set her cap for Harry Potter. They were all insane. Draco wondered what his father would think of all this. Thinking of his father made a heaviness press down on his heart. Maybe his father had led the family into a ruinous alliance, but he was still Draco’s father. He was still the man who had stepped forward and volunteered to lead an attack against the Order of the Phoenix just because the Dark Lord had looked at Draco when asking for volunteers.

And his father had gone to Azkaban in Draco’s place.

Draco swallowed as dark emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Harry?” Granger said. Harry looked up from his arithmancy formula. He knew he could get runes to transfer mass from one container to another, but he couldn’t get the numbers and runes to work.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Harry pushed his parchment to one side.

“Have you talked to Malfoy?”

“Several times.”

She huffed and tucked a curl behind her ear before she sat at the table next to him. “You can’t trust Malfoy.”

“The Fae brought him here.” As far as Harry was concerned, that was all he needed to know. The Fae wouldn’t bring people here unless the rescue supported their position. Harry still had trouble with Fae communication. They would take his hand and slide through time while dozens of possible outcomes flashed before his eyes. Harry had seen Draco a few times. When Voldemort won, Draco had been there with an older man with blond-white hair looking at him proudly, but they stood in the ruins of the wizarding community. Sometimes Draco held his father’s body. Sometimes he held the body of a woman Harry assumed was his mother. A few times Harry had seen Draco torturing people, his face twisted with either fury or fear—Harry couldn’t tell. Once, Draco stood in front of three children who clung to each other, wand up and a woman with a crazy laugh and wild hair threw a killing curse at him.

He had also seen Draco when Dumbledore’s side won. Sometimes Draco shivered in a corner in an icy room. Sometimes he knelt on a stone floor with a Fae circle chalked around him as magic flickered like a dying candle flame. He was often lying in a pile of bodies, his grey eyes lifeless and cold. And once he had cast the killing curse at Dumbledore’s back after the older wizard had vanquished Voldemort. Harry had slid along that reality long enough to see that every thread that followed that moment ended with Voldemort returning and killing Draco. Given the hate that twisted Voldemort’s features, he did not appreciate Draco succeeding when Voldemort had failed.

But the Fae believed Draco had an important part in the fight, so Harry would respect that.

“That’s all you have to say?” Granger asked.

Sometimes Harry didn’t understand her. He respected her, both her skills and her stand against a more powerful force. Her willingness to try to break through Voldemort’s wards on the ring Horcrux deserved mad respect. However, she acted like the fact that he was the Boy Who Had Once Survived meant that he had to act a certain way. For example, she expected that he would politically align himself with Dumbledore despite the fact that the wizard had left him with abusive foster parents and in every reality thread the Fae had shown him, Dumbledore’s policies had led to magic fading from the world. “What should I say?”

“You should say that you won’t let him manipulate anyone or take advantage of his access to Prince Keep. You know the Malfoys and the Carrows have a long-standing alliance.”

Harry frowned. “Are you suggesting Dinae would be easily manipulated or are you saying that you think Malfoy would take advantage of her?” Dinae had made it clear she never wanted to have a man or woman in her bed, so if Malfoy tried to charm her, he would regret his life choices.

“No, but he might try to get the Keep to side with Voldemort.”

Harry blinked.

Granger crossed her arms over her chest. “Severus, Regulus, and Malfoy are all marked Death Eaters. They hide their forearms, and there’s no other reason during dueling practice to keep the shirt sleeves down.”

Harry blinked at her again.

“And the Carrows have always sided with Voldemort. Alecto and Amycus Carrow forced students to practice Dark Arts at Hogwarts, did you know that?”

“No.”

“Cedric told me. He had graduated by then, but he kept in touch with younger Hufflepuff students. The Carrows are monsters.”

Given what had happened to Dinae before she came, Harry didn’t doubt that. And because of what her family had done, Harry suspected that she would rather burn her family to the ground than side with them. That might not be a metaphor given how angry she could get. “I don’t think he has the power to influence anyone.”

“Are you sure? You put him in a bedroom in the family section where he has access to her. In fact, all three of the marked Death Eaters are in that back hall, away from the rest of us. You’re the only one who can balance out that dark energy in that hall, and Dinae is in the middle of it.”

Harry stood. “We are all on the same side here.”

“Dumbledore’s?” she asked, her voice bright with hope.

“The Fae’s,” Harry said firmly. “If Dumbledore wins, magic will die.”

She frowned. “What?”

The Fae don’t understand people. They don’t understand why people make one choice or another, but they are masters of time. They can see not one future but a hundred of them. A thousand of them. If Dumbledore wins, he will ban all dark magic.”

“Because dark magic corrupts people.”

“Can corrupt people. Money can also corrupt people as can political power, fame, and a mastery of potions. Do you have any idea the sort of power a potions master wields? And most potions are impossible to identify after they’ve been assimilated by the body. They aren’t like spells that can be reversed.”

“Are you suggesting dark magic is the same as a potions mastery?”

“Yes,” Harry said bluntly. “That’s why I’m not on Dumbledore’s side.”

“So we should help Voldemort?” She took a step backward.

“Of course not! He’s a monster who would kill anyone who doesn’t agree with him. I plan to kill him.”

“Oh.” She frowned at him.

“And the Fae believe Draco is on our side. Just like they believe you are on our side.”

“I’m on Dumbledore’s side,” she said firmly.

“Even if he bans all dark magic and in doing so, accidentally severs the connection between Earth and the Fae lands? Will you give up your magic and return to the Muggle world in order to prevent anyone else from being tempted?”

She stared at him.

Gathering up his parchment, Harry headed out of the potions room. He didn’t want to go back to his room, but maybe the greenhouse would be quiet enough for him to work. Once upon a time, Prince Keep had felt huge, but it was getting smaller all the time.

- - - - - - - - - -

In the dark room attached to the greenhouse, Harry ran into Draco sitting on a bench set into the wall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Draco shot to his feet. “I don’t mind. Please, come in.”

Harry took him at his word and let the door fall closed behind him. The dull glow of crystals set into the walls gave the room an ethereal glow. “Are you hiding?”

“Are you?” Draco countered.

“Yes.” Harry sat on the bench closest to Draco. “Granger was trying to convince me you’re dangerous.”

Draco scoffed and sat again. “I’ve seen you fight. I am not dangerous to you, although I believe I could still take Granger in a fight. I don’t know how I would fare against Diggory or Delacour. But I get the feeling they are not exactly on your side. All three have been Dumbledore’s pawns in the past.”

“I doubt they’re pawns,” Harry said. He’d expected Draco to be less direct, especially given Severus’s explanation of Slytherin values. Then again, Severus had said that Draco had been more Gryffindor than Slytherin as a child. Apparently that hadn’t changed much.

“I think Dumbledore treats everyone like a pawn,” Draco said.

Harry shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.” He was lucky Severus had taken him away before he’d had to find out. “Apparently Granger feels that people follow the political agendas of their parents, and she worries about you being too close to Dinae.”

“I don’t think anyone can tell Dinae Medusa Carrow what to think, so I’m not going to bother wasting my breath trying.”

“Good because she rarely even listens to Severus.”

A grimace twisted Draco’s features for the briefest second, and then he once again presented a calm demeanor. “Uncle Severus never accepted any sort of disrespect from me as a child.”

“Yeah, but Dinae doesn’t care if she has to scrub caldrons for three months straight, so now Severus tries to avoid giving her orders she’s not likely to follow. So, do you think Dinae is at risk to follow the Dark Lord because her family does?”

Draco studied him. “Only his followers call him the Dark Lord.”

“You do.”

A rough laugh slipped out before Draco schooled his features again. “I’m sure Granger has explained that I am one of his followers. I’m sure she delighted in telling you that.”

Harry leaned back and propped his feet on the edge of a planting bed with moonstone mushrooms and fanged maidenhair. “Do you want to follow him?”

Draco didn’t answer for a long time. He had the same sort of haunted expression that Thea used to have. It was like he didn’t see an escape from the trap he was in, but Harry suspected that Draco’s problem would not be solved with a simple—or exceptionally complex—sex reassignment potion. “If I leave here, I won’t have a choice.”

“Then don’t leave here.”

“Do you really think it’s that simple?” Draco cried.

“Yes.”

Draco shot to his feet. “My mother is alone with that madman and my psychotic aunt in the manor—ordering her around in her own house. And my father…” Draco’s voice cracked. “My father is in Azkaban right now because he volunteered for a mission to save me from it. He’s being tortured by Dementors when it should be me. He should be home with mother. But he wouldn’t leave me to fail on my own.”

Harry frowned. “What are Dementors?”

Draco blinked down at him. “What are Dementors?”

“I’ve lived here since I was a little boy. There are many parts of the wizarding community that I don’t know anything about. I don’t know what Dementors are.”

A sob slipped out of Draco, and Harry sat up, ready to catch the other man if he collapsed because he looked to be on the verge of it. But Draco caught one of the posts on their corner of the planting bed and clung to it. “They’re monsters, Potter. They are skeletal, wraithlike dark creatures created by the wizard Ekrizdis to torment muggles and wizards alike. They say he bred them from lethifolds and inferi to suck the souls out of people, but the Ministry uses them as prison guards. They suck out every happy memory until the prisoners in Azkaban are forced to live their darkest nightmares with no relief. That’s where the Dark Lord sent my father—my father who was trying to protect me. That’s who Granger thinks I’ll side with because in her tiny mind anyone who has ever used dark magic must be evil. Everyone except her sainted Bumblebore, who everyone knows has used as much dark magic as most old families.” Draco stopped, his breath coming in heaves, although Harry didn’t know if that was from the emotional upheaval or his shouting.

“Are all these Dementors at the prison?”

“How should I know? What do you care?” Draco demanded.

Harry stood. He’d seen flashes of these Dementors, although he hadn’t know what they were at the time. In Fae time slips, the Dementors sometimes swooped down on towns, devouring everyone in their path and leaving bodies limp as rag dolls behind. In other time slips they screamed as dragon fire consumed them. Harry knew which future he preferred.

“I care because it’s time for Ekrizdis’s experiment to end. How would you like to help me destroy all the Dementors?”

Harry thought Draco would be happy, but he stared at Harry as though Harry had lost his mind.

“Well?” Harry asked.

“Are you quite sane?”

“I’m not sure. But I have a dragon and a team of fighters who need some real world experience on the battlefield. This seems like a fairly obvious solution to me.” Harry smiled.

“Obvious,” Draco echoed weakly.

“Obvious.” Harry stood and slapped Draco’s arm. Now that he had said it out loud, Harry knew this was the right move. The Fae did not approve of the Dementors, and if they didn’t address the problem before the Dark Lord brought Dementors to the battlefield, the death toll would be horrific. Besides, Norbert was getting bored hunting ice giants. Dementors were much more dangerous, and that would make both Norbert and Dinae happy.

Harry just had to figure out how to break the news to Severus.

- - - - - - - - - -

Severus clung to the rope despite the fact that his sticking charm was more effective at keeping him on Norbert’s back than the rope, which was little more than an illusion of security. He noticed that Draco had an equally tight grip. Severus hated his plan and he hated that Draco was going to be exposed to Lucius at his worst. If Severus could, he would keep Draco away from the prison, but he had few illusions.

If he had any power here, they wouldn’t be attacking Azkaban at all. Unfortunately, he had tied his fate to the Fae and Harry had the closest connection to their agenda. That was ironic given that Granger was the changling and Harry only a halfling; however, Granger clung to her logic as tightly as Severus held the rope.

And she didn’t seem to understand that both were illusions of safety.

Harry cast a sonorus charm and shouted over his shoulder, “Remember, non-lethal charms on the human guards. We only want to stun them so we can deal with the Dementors.”

Norbert bellowed, fire erupting from his mouth before he flew through it. Harry threw up a shield charm with his short sword. They were not the most discreet group, and Harry had refused to hide their faces. So this was their entry into the war proper.

Fear stalked Severus, both for himself and for the children he was supposed to guide. Harry and Dinae were his first children, but he was just as protective of Neville who had grown into a strong young man once he was away from the judgment of others and Draco who Severus had always regretting leaving behind. He was terrified for Thea who would face horrific judgment if the Dark Lord’s faction won and he was even concerned for the three they had left behind—Granger, Diggory, and Delacour.

“You okay?” Regulus asked as he leaned forward, resting one hand on Severus’s hip.

“I hate flying,” Severus shouted back.

Regi laughed as though Severus had made a joke. He hadn’t. He found most forms of flying utterly ridiculous.

Norbert banked to the left, and Severus saw the prison under them. Neville raised his wand and called an incantation to pull in a heavy, rolling fog so only the top of the fortress remained visible. Norbert tucked her wings close and they lost altitude quickly.

Severus swallowed a scream, and Regi pressed himself against Severus’s back. After a stomach-dropping dive, Norbert leveled out and before Severus could catch his breath, she put out her feet and landed with a heavy jolt. Neville was off first, throwing up an impenetrable shield. Harry and Thea took the left and right, leaving the center position for Draco, Severus, and Regulus. None of them had Fae wands or the time practicing as a team. Luckily that left Dinae to cover the rear. Maybe they could keep her from killing anyone.

They moved steadily toward the entrance. Severus would have assumed they had encountered no resistance except that the fog occasionally lit with a hex or curse from either Thea or Harry. Clearly the Aurors were no match for the team because they were inside the damp fortress with no trouble.

“Cast your Patronus. Drive the Dementors out of the fortress for Norbert to hunt them,” Harry said without a moment of doubt. Severus had never heard of dragon fire destroying a Dementor, but Harry had faith in the visions the Fae had shared with him. Severus figured that if worse came to worse, they could retreat.

“Where’s my father?” Draco asked.

“He’ll be near the top where the Ministry keeps high-profile prisoners.”

Draco clenched his jaw and raised his wand even though there were no enemies to fight by the time Neville, Thea, and Harry cleared the path. Severus kept a hand on Draco’s shoulder as they moved their way up the fortress stairs. Severus cast his own moose patronus. It shook it’s broad antlers and charged aggressively forward to help drive the Dementors from the castle.

When they passed a narrow slot window, Norbert lit the night with dragon fire. The Dementors screamed and shreds of what looked like black fabric rained down to the ground below. Dragon fire clearly worked.

Draco started their journey by checking every cell, eager to find his father. But as he looked in at one wretched victim after another, he started flinching from cell doors. After exchanging a concerned look with Regulus, Regulus took the right side of the corridor and Severus took the left. That left Draco to wander between them, looking more pale with every passing moment.

Near the top of the fortress stood an open door with Belatrix Lestrange’s name engraved on the brass beside the door. She should still be here, rotting forever for what she did to Neville’s parents. If they had reached her old cell, Lucius should be somewhere near.

“I found him,” Regi said softly.

Draco froze. Casting a quick charm, Regi unlocked the cell door and then stood to the side. Draco looked to Severus before squaring his shoulders and marching toward the door with his head held high. The arrogant pose only lasted until he saw Lucius.

“Father!”

“Draco?” Lucius’s voice cracked. “No. No, you can’t be here. No. It’s an illusion.”

Severus stood at the open door and looked at the bedraggled man chained to the wall. Draco held him close, hugging him even with the chains between them.

“Severus? No. I’m imagining things. Get a grip. You’re a Malfoy. We do not bend.” Despite the words, Lucius’s voice shook.

“I’m here, old friend,” Severus said. “I have potions to strengthen you, to help repair some of the damage the Dementors have caused.” In a fair world, Severus would have provided the same care for all these tortured prisoners, but Severus was not fair and he did not have time to tend all the sick. He knelt down and offered Lucius the first of the vials. He drank it greedily, not even complaining about the taste as he usually did when Severus brewed for him.

“What have they done to you?” Draco cried. “They’re monsters.”

“Everyone is a monster in war,” Severus corrected him. The Dark Lord was most monstrous than the Ministry could hope to be, but this was not the time for that debate.

“Draco?” Lucius ran his dirty fingers through Draco’s hair. “My beautiful boy. My beautiful Draco.” He started to cry, and Draco gave Severus a wild and terrified look.

“I’m protecting him. The Fae didn’t take my life. They removed me from the battlefield, but I have now taken Draco under my protection.”

“Protection?” Lucius frowned. “I protected him. Our Lord won’t touch him now. He will honor family sacrifice.” Lucius nodded. “That is the old way. Draco is safe.”

Severus handed him another draught. After Lucius finished this one, his eyes were clearer. “Severus?”

Severus crouched down next to Lucius. “Your Lord sent Draco on a mission to kill the headmaster. The headmaster versus your child who has not even taken his NEWTS. Had not the Fae decided to intervene, the Malfoy line would have ended here.” Severus could see his words penetrating the fog in Lucius’s mind.

“Would our Lord dishonor the ancient ways? Would he discount my sacrifice?” Some of Lucius’s righteous indignation returned to his voice. The old Lucius was still there under all the pain and grime.

“Yes,” Severus said, ripping away Lucius’s illusion that the Dark Lord would honor any tradition that didn’t favor him.

Lucius looked at him, and something hard settled in his gaze. “Find me a wand, and I will swear an unbreakable vow to support you and your side in this war, no matter which side that is. I will protect my family.”

“He’s still at the manor. He still has mother,” Draco cried.

Lucius pulled at the chains. “Severus, get me free.”

Severus rested his hand on Lucius’s arm. “I cannot. We are going to escape on dragon back, but the dragon does not know you. You smell of fear and sweat, and she will see you as prey. We can’t take you from here,” Severus said. “I’m sorry.”

“But we’re destroying the Dementors. You won’t have to ever see another Dementor,” Draco rushed to promise his father. “You won’t be tortured like that any more.”

Lucius shook his head. “Nothing can destroy a Dementor. Even the killing curse does nothing to them.”

“But dragon fire is rather effective, which is one reason we brought a dragon,” Severus said. “The Dark Lord will retrieve you eventually. When he does, tell him that the Fae are set against both sides. The headmaster is destroying magic, but the Dark Lord is destroying people who love magic. And in doing so, the Dark Lord has declared war on the Fae. Lily Potter was a changing. Harry is a halfling.”

Lucius sucked in a startled breath. “That’s why she had the power to repel the killing curse.”

“The Dark Lord killed a Fae,” Severus said. “He killed Lily, and he tried to kill at least one other Fae.” Severus did not identify Granger as the second changeling to almost die due to the Dark Lord’s machinations. She was the unlikeliest of changelings, and identifying her would make Lucius doubt everything Severus had to say. “The Fae are gathering their pieces, and they are equally angry with both sides. If the Dark Lord wants to avoid facing the sharp end of a Fae wand, he needs to stop.”

Severus knew the Dark Lord would never change his own plans, but maybe this would convince Lucius to avoid tying his fate to the Dark Lord too closely. Maybe Lucius could get word to the other Death Eaters who might be questioning their choices. Every warrior they could get to abandon the battlefield was one fewer person Severus’s children would have to fight.

Severus stood. “Come, Draco. We need to leave.”

“But what about Father?” Draco clung to his father with the same tenacity he’d had as a five year old protesting when Lucius left to go to the Wizengamot for the day. Back then, Lucius and Severus had laughed. Draco’s desperation was no longer humorous.

“We can’t save him. Even if we removed the chains, we could not take him from Azkaban. He is safest here where the Ministry can’t accuse him of masterminding the slaughter of the Dementors.”

“But…” Draco looked at his father as though expecting Lucius to announce some grand plan that would fix everything.

“Go,” Lucius said. “I love you, little dragon, and I love your mother, so keep yourself safe.” Lucius looked up at Severus. “Protect him.”

Severus nodded. “I will do my best.”  That was all Severus could promise. “Draco, we must leave. The Aurors will learn of the attack soon and we cannot be found here.”

“Go,” Lucius said as he pushed Draco away. “Go.”

Severus caught Draco by the shoulder and spun him around before thrusting him toward the door.

“Severus?”

He turned to look back at the broken man who had once made such grand promises that he had convinced Severus to kneel to a madman. “I will protect him as much as I can. The Fae have created a safe place. I am hiding him there.”

Lucius nodded. “Thank you.”

In all the years they had known each other, Severus had never heard those words from Lucius. “You are welcome,” Severus said, and then he followed Draco out of the tiny, dark cell.

The Dementors were gone, but none of these prisoners would have a good life. No. They would suffer, but at least now they could keep their sanity and hope for a better day. And maybe a better day would actually come if the Fae could stop the idiocy on both sides of this war.