Hellfire in New York

Hellfire in New York

Chapter 19: The Strange Allies of Harry Potter

Harry found himself in yet another big, cold, hearth. This one, however, was in a large, rough-hewn, cave-like chamber. There were chairs and a long table, but only one other person. A tall, slim, blond figure in grey, who was pointing a wand at him and saying, "Steady, Harry! Don't do anything stupid just yet!"

"Draco Malfoy," growled Harry, raising his own wand. "If you've got something to say, talk fast! If I hear something I don't like, you're going to get hurt!"

Malfoy gave an affected sigh. "You can take the boy out of Gryffindor..." He shook his head. "Godric was a lout, with neither manners nor style, and his House is the same!

"Listen Harry, we're on the same side here, for once. Selene is a worse menace than Voldemort ever was - to the whole world! Now, do we waste time sniping at each other or fighting, or do we unite for the greater good?"

"Since when," asked Harry coldly, "do you give a good goddamn about the greater good, Malfoy? You're after Selene because she had your mother killed. Don't try to turn your personal vendetta into a crusade. You won't fool me."

Draco shrugged and lowered his wand. "As you please, Harry. My motives aren't really the issue here, anyway. The fact is, we both want Selene gone, and we can help each other. Now, are you going to refuse me on some idiotic moral grounds, or will you see sense and work with me?"

Since his last encounter with Draco, Harry had modified his opinion of his schoolboy nemesis. He had once assumed that the Malfoy clan had been unthinking supporters of Voldemort, but he had since learned that both Narcissa and Lucius had been part of the Knights of Walpurgis. When Narcissa had brought Harry to her bedroom and attempted to seduce him, Draco had been watching, unbeknownst to his mother. Afterward, he had confronted Harry, explaining that he had a personal agenda and was prepared to offer Harry a role second only to his own. Harry decided there was no harm in listening to Draco now; he might learn something useful.

"Why me?" Harry asked. "Why not your usual sidekicks?"

Draco shrugged again. "Theodore's not a man of action. Crabbe and Goyle lack imagination and brains. It's a shame that fool Zabini had to get himself killed - I could have used him! That's beside the point, though. I need your unique skills, Harry. I know the way to Selene's Temple, but to get past the doors, I need a Parselmouth."

Harry nodded, smiling grimly. "So, I get you past the doors, and either Selene's waiting for me, or you kill me once I'm no more use, is that it?"

Draco shook his head. "What, and remove my best opponent from the board before the game has really started? Oh, no, Harry! You and I have a long campaign ahead of us, either on the same or on opposite sides, and in either case, I prefer the Devil I know."

Harry was about to reply when there was a blaze of violet light, and suddenly the room was filled with demons. The hellspawn attacked both wizards immediately, and Harry, to his lasting astonishment, found himself fighting side-by-side with Draco Malfoy!

It wasn't as bad as he'd expected. Draco was more skilled than Harry remembered, and didn't appear to be as much of a coward as he had once been. Still, Harry felt he was doing most of the work. He'd have given a lot to have Ron or Ginny at his side right now. There were just too many demons; it was only a matter of time.

Then a third element entered the battle. Out of nowhere came a tall, white-haired figure in red, wielding a massive broadsword. The newcomer sliced his way through the demons as efficiently as Wolverine could have done it, reaching the two young wizards in a matter of moments. There was a clear area around them, caused by the fact that spells are ranged rather than close-combat weapons, and the swordsman darted into it, placing himself between Harry and Draco. He slung the sword across his back, and drew a pair of automatic pistols from under his long coat, unleashing a hail of gunfire into the demonic mob. The wizards redoubled their own efforts, and the three of them finally managed to clear the room of demons.

For a moment, they stood in silence, then the white-haired stranger stretched out a hand and muttered to himself. A swarm of little red globes rose out of the demon corpses and flew into his hand. He tucked them inside his coat before turning to his companions.

"Well, that was fun! Now, who are you guys? For that matter, what are you?"

Harry examined the man who looked to be about nineteen or twenty, as tall as Ron but less bulky. His hair was white-blond, worn slightly long, and his face was strong-boned and handsome. He had piercing pale blue eyes and wore a long red coat over some kind of tunic and trousers tucked into high black boots. On his hands were leather gauntlets with short steel spikes across the knuckles. He was clearly a formidable individual, so Harry decided the best strategy was honesty.

"My name's Harry Potter. This is Draco Malfoy. We're wizards. Now, who and what are you?"

The man grinned. "Name's Dante. I hunt demons. Are we on the same side, or do I have to kick your butts as well?"

"You're welcome to try," replied Draco dryly, "but you might not find it easy, Muggle!"

"Shut up, Draco!" snapped Harry, then he turned to Dante. "He's a high opinion of himself - he's the only one that does, mind - so you'll have to let him off when he's rude. That'll be most of the time, actually, but never mind.

"If you're a demon-hunter, you'll be after Selene as well, right?"

Dante shrugged. "If she's the one trying to open a Hell-Gate, then yeah, I'm after her."

"Good enough," Harry decided. "You'd best come with us. Draco here knows the way, and I can get us into the Temple she's using, but we could do with some extra muscle."

Dante considered this course of action. "How do I know I can trust you?" he demanded.

"You don't," Harry told him. "Any more than we know we can trust you. But," he indicated Draco, "I don't trust him either, and he doesn't trust me, so we're all in the same boat. We'll just have to rely on the old adage, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', won't we?"

"Whatever," Dante replied. "So, where now?"

"Nowhere, for a second," said Harry in an odd, distant tone. As the other two watched, his eyes went unfocused, and they heard him mutter, "C'mon, Marie, you can do it, luv!"

It might have been telepathy, or magic, or the memory of the time he had shared his powers with Marie. It might even have been the odd bonding that had formed between them that day in the Labyrinth when they had almost kissed. Whatever it was, Harry suddenly felt an overpowering sense of Marie - her fear, her defiance of that fear, her determination to go down fighting. Instinctively, he reached for her, stretched out with his mind to the young woman he now acknowledged as his soul-sister. She was alone, and confronted by the thing Harry feared most - Dementors! There were unconscious wizards around her, but she had none of their powers. Rogue was trying, with only the residual magic three encounters had left her, to summon a Patronus. Harry did what he could; he sent his support, his love for her, his presence to try to help her. Whether she was aware of him, he couldn't know - she was concentrating too intently - but he felt a mighty surge of pride in his friend when the silver dragonfly emerged from her borrowed wand.

Meanwhile, another part of his mind was looking for someone to help Rogue. He touched Ginny, and Kitty, and Hermione and Ron, but none of them could get there. Then he found another mind - Ororo! She was close, and her instincts had already led her in the right direction, but now she faltered. Harry could not send a message, as such, but he managed to plant a suggestion in her mind, one that led her straight to Marie. He had tutored Storm in the charm himself, and knew her Patronus was almost as powerful as his. Marie would be safe now.

Harry blinked, then said, "Right, let's go!"

"What was that all about?" asked Draco. "You were...talking...to D'Ancanto somehow, weren't you?"

"None of your business," said Harry briskly. "Anyway, it's complicated. Come on, Draco. Let's get to this Temple. I've a feeling we're running short on time."

"This way." Draco led off, asking over his shoulder, "I suppose you have some plan or other?"

"Yeah," replied Harry. "We get to the Temple, slip past magical traps, battle overwhelming odds and confront Selene. Then she gets the drop on us, and we're at her mercy. She starts telling us how pathetic we are, and how she's going to rule the world, and how she's going to be merciful and kill us now. Then we nobble her while she's monologuing!"

"Sounds like a plan!" said Dante with a grin.

"It's the one that usually works," Harry acknowledged.

Draco shook his head. "I'm usually surrounded by idiots. Being surrounded by lunatics makes a refreshing change."

"Is he as gay as he sounds?" Dante asked Harry.

"No idea," Harry answered. "And I could really do without going there!"

"Yeah, he's not my type, either," allowed Dante.

Draco led them swiftly and surely, using back corridors Trust Draco to know every sneaky way around the place, Harry noted. Sometime during the journey, Harry's communicator went active, and he was able to brief Cyclops on the situation. Cyclops was relieved to find that his friends were, so far, all well.

Then they came to a corridor Harry recognised. It was the one Harry had traversed the night he had infiltrated the Club. But now what he had thought to be statues were living Hell Guard demons! There was no way around, they'd have to fight their way through. Draco swore foully, and began blasting away with his wand, but these demons were tougher than the msira, and took longer to go down. Harry was also casting spells, while Dante poured more gunfire into the enemy.

Finally, the young demon-hunter lost patience. "This is taking too long!" he hissed. He holstered his pistols, drew his sword, and charged the demons. Just before he reached them, he jumped to one side, ran up and along the wall as Harry had seen Nightcrawler do, and dropped into the middle of the mob, laying about him to right and left.

It was long, it was messy, and it was tiring, but eventually the last demon went down. Dante sheathed his sword and called, "Are you guys coming?"

"I need a minute," panted Draco. The blond Slytherin was bending down, hands on his knees, taking deep breaths.

"Knackered already Draco?" Harry asked. "You Malfoys too aristocratic for an honest day's massacre?"

"Oh, very witty, Potter!" snapped Draco. "Just remember, I haven't spent a year or two doing those Muggle exercises Weasley's so expert in!"

Harry laughed grimly. "And you think you're going to be a match for me? You need some training, Draco! I'm sure Ron would enjoy putting you through the mill a bit, and Iceman would love to kick your skinny arse round the Danger Room for a week or so."

"I'm sure he would. Mr Drake and I have matters to settle one of these days." Draco straightened and said, "Right, let's go!"

Harry refrained from pointing out that Draco would probably never be a match for the powerful young elemental Mutant. Instead, he led the three toward the end of the corridor, saying, "Last time I was here, there were statues of those Abyss Goat things by the door. I've a feeling they won't be statues now."

He was right; the two winged demons stood alert, on guard. Waiting in the shadows, Harry saw Dante draw his guns again.

"Shouldn't you be out of ammunition?" he asked quietly. "I've not seen you reload."

Dante grinned. "Ebony and Ivory don't run out of ammo. My father had them made by one of your kind. He had a pair like them, called Lucia and Ombre. He had these made, one for me, one for my brother, but Vergil thought guns were dishonourable, and he wouldn't use his, so I got them both."

Just then, both demons sprang into the air, facing in opposite directions. One immediately began to flap its wings desperately, yet sank to the ground despite its efforts. At last, the demon crashed to the floor and fell prone, apparently unable to move. It lay helpless, as a hail of machine-gun fire literally tore it to shreds. Its companion, meanwhile, had gone down under a storm of curses and hexes, finally vanishing in a violet blaze as someone invoked an exorcism.

"Stay put!" hissed Harry. Two groups of human figures were advancing into the middle of the space. One group was composed of Hellfire Club mercenaries led by a powerfully built black man and a gross figure Harry recognised as Henry Leland, the Black Bishop. Leading the other group was a tall, balding wizard, and Grisabelle Dent, the woman Harry had duelled with only a few days before.

The black merc spoke first. "Caradoc, we're here on the Black King's orders. I don't want to fight you, man."

"Nor I you, Ralph," the tall wizard replied. "Thankfully, it's not going to happen. We're here on the orders of the Black Queen - the new Black Queen - Mrs Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Then Sebastian and Bella succeeded?" said the Black Bishop eagerly. "But we still can't get through that door! Fortunately, there's someone here who can. Hawk, you'd better come out, you and your friends."

Harry led Draco and Dante forward. "How did you know I was here, Leland?" he asked.

The Black Bishop shrugged. Close up, Harry noticed lines of strain on the man's face, but a look of relief in his eyes. Leland had clearly had a rough time of it lately.

He told Harry, "Your team-mate Polaris may have disabled our jammers, but the CCTV still works." He pulled a device from one of the capacious pockets of his Regency-style jacket. "I've been monitoring your progress. Now, Selene is somewhere beyond that door, so let's get going! We're on the same side now, Hawk."

Harry did the only thing he could think of: He reached out with his mind again.

Emma?

I'm here, Harry.

Can we trust Leland?

For now, yes, but not if he sees Selene! Harry, we've got trouble here. She showed him a fleeting image of the battle. I can't stay with you long!

It's OK. Thanks, Emma!

Thanks for asking, Harry - for trusting me enough to ask!

The exchange had taken perhaps a second. Harry faced the Black Bishop. "I'm sorry, Mr Leland, but I can't take you anywhere near Selene. You know why. If you and your people want to help, though, the X-Men and some of my wizard friends have their hands full in what used to be the throne room. Can you lend a hand down there?"

Leland nodded gratefully. "That we can do. Mr Grimslade, Lt Cole, let's move our people out!"

As the others filed off, the tall American wizard stopped in front of Harry and put out a hand. "Harry Potter? My name's Caradoc Grimslade. An honor to meet you, sir!"

Harry took the hand cautiously. "You know who I am?"

Caradoc nodded. "Ms Dent told me she'd had the privilege of duelling with The Man Who Won. We may not agree politically, Mr Potter, but Lord Voldemort was a madman who needed to be stopped. My goal is separation, not slaughter, and I'd be obliged if you'd remember that."

Harry nodded. "I understand. I think you're wrong, or taking things too far, rather, but if you leave my people alone, I'll have no quarrel with you."

"Understood," replied Grimslade. "Once more, it was an honor, Mr Potter!"

As the American wizard left, Draco said "Grimslade? There aren't any Grimslades left in Britain now. I may be related to him, though."

"Well," said Harry, "let's hope the prat gene stayed in your branch of the family!"

Harry contacted Cyclops, telling him to expect reinforcements. Then he turned to the door of Selene's study and hissed, "Open!" in Parseltongue. The door gave way, and the three stepped in.

Selene was waiting for them in the centre of the room. She had abandoned the Black Queen's costume in favour of a simple but revealing black robe. In her hands, she held the snake-staff Harry had seen in here before.

"Draco, Draco," Selene admonished. "I'm so disappointed in you, my darling. No use as a lover, and a clumsy conspirator! But at least you've brought the handsome - and potent - Harry Potter to me. Harry, have you come to fight me, or to make me yours, as you deserve? Or both? I'd like that, to have you take me by force!"

Harry grimaced, disgusted beyond words. Then he stared at her in frank disbelief.

"Ah, virtue!" Selene gave a silvery laugh. "You're still just a boy, aren't you? But how about this stalwart young warrior?" She turned to Dante, who simply grinned at her. Selene's eyes narrowed for a moment, then widened as she gasped, "You! The Son of Sparda! The one who sent my mother Nevan back to Hell!"

"That'd be me. My friends call me Dante. You call me death!" Dante replied smoothly.

Selene's response was to fling a barrage of curses from the snake-wand. A Stun spell took Dante in the chest. He grunted and staggered, but stayed on his feet. Draco flung up a shield to block a Petrificus curse. Harry ducked, dived and rolled under the black cords she flung at him, coming up on his feet and silently casting Diffindo at the staff.

The carved wand snapped in two to fall at Selene's feet. The witch gaped at Harry. "Who are you, to destroy Slytherin's Rod so easily?"

"The one who killed what he left in his Chamber of Secrets!" Harry told her.

For a moment, Selene simply gazed at Harry, then she, too, threw up a shield, as Dante opened fire. With a screech of rage, Slytherin's daughter Disapparated.

"Crap!" growled Dante. "Nearly had her!"

Harry stepped over, looking down at the broken remnants of Slytherin's Rod. Then he knelt to examine them more closely. Underneath the ebony wood there seemed to be a set of interlocking crystals around a core of some dully-gleaming metal. To Harry, the thing looked more like technology than magic - alien technology to be sure - the kind Beast had occasionally lectured them on, but technology nonetheless. Oh well, he thought. It's broken now, whatever it was. Harry stood up to face his companions.

"You just can't get decent staff these days!" he commented.

Draco groaned. "I should have killed you at school, Potter!"

"Guess you made a rod for your own back, then!" supplied Dante.

"He's inclined to let his mind wand -er," Harry said.

"He should stick to things more," Dante countered.

"I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole!" was Harry's comeback.

"Thank you so very much for that scintillating display, gentlemen," drawled Draco. "Now the exit we need is here."

He went to the wall behind Selene's Pensieve, fumbled with some kind of hidden catch for a moment, then the wall swung aside to reveal another corridor, one that spiralled downwards. Draco gestured them to follow him. "Let us now proceed with the rest of the day's entertainment!" he said dryly.

As they began to descend, Harry remarked, "You know, Draco, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."

"But the highest form of intelligence, Harry. Not that you'd be aware of that."

"He's getting better," Dante told Harry.

"Well, he couldn't possibly get worse," Harry answered.

After a while, Harry said, "Selene seemed to recognise you, Dante."

"Yeah," the blond man admitted. "I ran into her mom, Nevan, about a year back. Tough cookie."

"Like mother, like daughter, huh?" Harry asked.

"Nah, this one's not half so bad as her mom. You guys are wizards from England, right? You were at Hogwarts together?"

Harry was surprised. "You know about Hogwarts?"

Dante nodded. "My mother thought about sending me and Vergil - my brother - there, but we aren't wizards, not really, so she decided not to." In answer to Harry's still puzzled look, Dante elaborated. "Where I come from, Vie de Marlie, wizards and Muggles live side-by-side. It was where the first Hell-Gate was, where my father and an army of wizards and Muggle warriors drove the last Demon-Lords back into Hell and sealed the Gate. We don't forget what we owe each other, so there's never been a separation."

"Your parents are wizards, then?" asked Harry, wondering if Dante and his brother might be some kind of Squibs, half magical, half not. Dante certainly had some non-Muggle abilities, but he was also no wizard, and Harry was sure he wasn't a Mutant, or Cerebro would have detected him long before.

Dante shook his head. "My mother was a Muggle. Her name was Beatrice. My father, Sparda, was a Demon Lord, one of the most powerful ones. A long time ago, demons ruled Earth, coming through in Vie de Marlie. They treated humans like dirt, but Father never agreed with that. In the end, he turned against them, spent the rest of his life fighting them. He did that for three or four thousand years before he married Mom. He's gone now. All he left were these guns and this sword - it's called Rebellion. Vergil wouldn't touch it - he prefers a katana - but I like it. I found it locked away when Mom died. I've been using it since."

"So there were wizards back then?" Harry asked.

"Guess so," Dante agreed. "They were there before the demons. The story goes that back in what they call the Third Age, five wizards came to Middle Earth; white, grey, brown and two blue. The white one turned traitor and got himself murdered. The grey one went back where he came from. But the other three stayed, raised families, and that's where wizards came from. I don't know if that's exactly how it went, history lessons kinda made me sleepy!"

"Me, too!" grinned Harry. "Then again, Professor Binns, our teacher, is a ghost, so I suppose it's not really his fault he's boring!"

Dante laughed. "My history tutor was a guy called Methos - he's an Immortal. Been around so long he's forgotten his age, I think. Oldest Immortal left since the Highlander killed the Kurgan."

Harry had heard of the Immortals, of course, several of them featured in History of Magic lessons because some of them had been wizards. Still, he was surprised at Dante's familiarity with them. Clearly, his new ally was more than a simple fighter!

The spiral corridor they were following opened out into a huge space that ended in a pair of vast, cathedral-like doors. Once again, the doors were carved with elaborate images of intertwined snakes. But this time, there was another creature represented. Many of the snakes appeared to be having what Harry could only describe as unnatural relations with giant bats, who in turn were giving birth to horrible, scaled, winged hybrids. It made him feel faintly queasy, and by the way Dante swore, Harry guessed he felt the same way.

"Yes, well, when you've finished admiring the pornography, perhaps we could proceed?" said Draco acidly. "Or must you have another hissy fit, Potter?"

Harry ignored Draco. He studied the door. Selene would hardly use the same password twice, he supposed. No, if this was her Temple, then the word to open its doors would be one that had special significance to her. Harry racked his brains, trying to call up everything he could remember from the briefings they had had. He wished Hermione were here - she conscientiously memorised every detail of every briefing file, of course.

Why had Selene built this Temple? She wanted something to summon her father and mother from Hell to work some magic on her. To make her... he had it!

"Completion!" he hissed at the door. It didn't move, so he tried another tack, "Perfection!"

This time, the great bolts slid aside, and the doors opened slowly inwards. Inside was a vast hall, so huge that Harry realised at once that they must be in a magical place like the Labyrinth of Amagor outside normal space and time.

Harry hadn't time to think about it, though, because of what faced him, Draco and Dante as they stepped through. The doors closed silently behind them, but they didn't notice. Between them and the next door, crouched a creature out of nightmare!

Hagrid had once trained and raised a three-headed dog, which he had called Fluffy. Fluffy had seemed huge to an eleven-year-old Harry, but he was no bigger than one of the heads of the three-headed hound that faced them now! The central head faced Dante, and spoke in a thunderous growl.

"Greetings, Son of Sparda! You slew my kennel-mate Cerberus, a year ago. My name is Orthrus, and you will not so easily best me!"

"Oh, yeah?" sneered Dante. "OK, mutt, time to get you housebroken!"