Love of a Leo and a Capricorn

The Sun had risen and the sky and the sea were ablaze with golden light. The Dementors were still trying to get away from the dragons, but Harry and Severus had managed to make themselves useful by directing their Patronii to charge at the Dark Creatures, who had managed to get through the dragons’ blind spots.

“It seems that the Dementors are trying to outrun the dragons now,” Harry observed.

“They have nowhere to go,” Charlie said quietly. “I’m hoping ... I’m really hoping that whatever Hermione, Draco, and that Runes instructor are doing right now will help get rid of them for good.”

Harry nodded to himself. He looked around him. The dragon keepers that he was able to observe were looking serious and unsmiling. Their grim faces were telling him that they were tired of fighting, that they were weary, but that they were determined to see the war through the end. Harry could feel himself sobering. His eyes drifted to watch the dragons. Sleek and powerful, their muscles rippled and sunlight reflected from their scales in an enchanting manner.

“They’re beautiful creatures, these dragons,” he murmured to Severus. “They’re tame enough to be working with humans. They really do have better temperaments than their cousins.”

“I do not think they are tamed, Harry,” Severus said quietly.

“Why do you think so?”

“I am not sure, but they give me the impression that they do not mind working with humans, as long as they get the freedom to do what they like.”

“Hmmmm.” Harry leaned back against Severus unconsciously. He was distantly aware that Severus’ thumb was brushing round and round the spot that was his navel, but that was quickly forgotten. He sat up straight and frowned at the Dementors. “They’re not moving.”

“It’s time. Saerna, get ready,” Charlie said gravely to his dragon.

The dragons in the west made several choking sounds before they released their hot, fiery breaths, and then they simply hovered, while the other dragons continued to fly after the Dementors. Harry was puzzled by the sudden change, but he did not voice out his curiosity. He simply looked at everything with a frown on his face.

He felt Saerna’s scales rippling with such intensity that he failed to suppress his yelp of surprise. Then, the air was suddenly filled with an ethereal sound and it was so heartbreakingly beautiful that Harry’s eyes had watered despite him trying to act unaffected.

The dragons of the north and south were producing the same, miraculous sound, with jaws that were agape and eyes that were partially closed. With each passing second, they seemed to grow brighter and appear more silver than black. The pure notes drowned the shrill shrieks of the Dementors and the loud song filled Harry’s mind until he could not think about anything else.

Saerna was lifting her upper body and Severus was tightening his arms around Harry’s waist again. The dragon reared back until Harry could no longer see the Dementors, but then Saerna lurched forward suddenly and she released a beam of silver light from her throat.

Harry was too stunned to exclaim his surprise. The beam of light had stabbed through the ranks of Dementors and it had looked as though it was absorbing the light from the Sun as well. The shaft of brightness grew larger and larger, and it became too bright for Harry to look. The emerald-eyed wizard closed his eyes and turned away, but still, the radiance penetrated his eyelids.

There was silence, and the brightness was fading gradually. Cautiously, Harry opened his eyes. He could not see the Dementors as a huge shield of something white had enveloped them. The shield started to shrink, and it became smaller and smaller until Harry could feel the morning heat of the Sun. Without warning, the spherical shield exploded and released several waves of what could only be described as magic. Harry felt them hit Saerna and the dragon faltered slightly in the air.

Finally, it was over. Light had triumphed over evil.

But there were no cheers, no shouts of victory. The dragon keepers just looked at the fading motes of light before nudging their, slightly shaking dragons to turn to the north, toward their base.

They had flown for about half an hour when Charlie had broken the silence.

“We still have a job to do. That was just an army of Dementors, just the majority. The one that is breeding them is still on the loose,” Charlie said. “Snape, do you have any idea if the culprit is a Dementor or if it is a person, summoning them out of darkness or something?”

“I thought I have told you before,” Severus answered. “Their numbers had increased because of a liaison between a human and the creature.”

“Gods. That is so wrong,” Charlie muttered. Harry grimaced as well.

“Hey there, Harry!” a voice called, and Harry turned to look at his left.

“Ron!”

His friend grinned broadly and waved. “I knew I shouldn’t be too worried about you!”

“That’s because he has me watching his back and doing his thinking for him,” Harry heard Severus mutter darkly.

Harry chuckled and squeezed Severus’ arm gently. “Well, Hermione will be worried about you! Did you even tell her or write her a note?”

“Nope! She was too busy with spellcasting with Malfoy and the rest. I don’t think she’ll notice my disappearance!”

Harry shook his head and sighed. He raked his hair back with his fingers but halfway, Severus caught his wrist. Surprised, he glanced over his shoulder.

“Do not do that when you are dirty,” Severus said softly and tucked Harry’s black fringe behind the ear.

“Sorry.” Harry smiled sheepishly. “Charlie, do we have to pick up the dead?”

Charlie shook his head. “No. Saerna and her kind do not like to be anywhere around dead humans. Don’t ask me why, Snape. I’m not their creator so I don’t know. The Aurors – and I expect the ground forces as well – will take care of that duty.”

“I see.” Harry paused and looked out into the distance. “Do you think there’s a safe lake somewhere? I’d really like to bathe. I stink.”

“But if you do, the girls back home will know you have been working,” Charlie said lightly.

“Don’t joke, Charlie. I really stink and I feel uncomfortable and I like to take a bath. I can’t stand the way I smell.”

Severus snorted with amusement. “Terribly self-conscious, aren’t you?”

“Only because my lover is downwind,” Harry grumbled. “I’m trying to be considerate, you bastard.” Although he could not see it, he definitely could feel that Severus was smiling wickedly.

“You know, Harry, after all the months we’ve been working together, I still can’t believe that he actually lets you get away with that ... ah ... endearment.”

“That’s only because he thinks it’s sexy.” That earned him a sharp tug of his hair. “Stop that, Severus.”

“Oi!” Charlie shouted and he waved his arm at someone Harry could not see. “Let’s go down some place that has water! Harry wants to bathe!”

“Gods, Charlie! You didn’t have to say that!” Harry groaned. “You make me sound like a bloody whelp.”

“Harry wants a bath?” someone else shouted back. “All right! Just drop him into The Pond! That’s the only safe spot that I know!”

“There’s a water reservoir near that area right?” Charlie asked loudly. “We should let the dragons stop for a rest too, and let them have clean drinking water.”

“Very amusing, Charlie.” Harry glared at the dragon keeper’s back.

“We’ll see you later, Harry!” Ron shouted just as Saerna began to glide downward.

“Yeah!” Harry fixed his gaze on a small area of blue among pine trees. “You think Saerna can get down there without damaging the trees?”

“Don’t worry, Harry,” Charlie said reassuringly. “Just don’t take your straps off until we have properly landed.”

“I think you’d better hold on tight, Severus.”

Harry’s advice became useful several minutes later, when the dragon started to accelerate toward the trees, and Saerna tucked her wings in and stretched her legs out. A violent jerk followed when she came to a stop abruptly. It was not alarming to Harry, because he was quite used to braking rather suddenly on his Firebolt, but Severus on the other hand, was looking quite pale when he had turned to check.

“I’ll come back for you in about two hours. I hope that we can catch something for breakfast and get some more food. It’ll be a long journey home,” Charlie said a little absently as Harry unfastened all of his safety belts.

“Okay. So we’ll wait for you here?” Harry asked.

“Yeah. Either that, or I’ll come and fetch you.”

Harry jumped off the dragon’s back and helped to steady Severus as his lover came down. Both paused to watch as Saerna slunk away from them. She was looking up at the openings of the pine trees occasionally, probably to choose a suitable launching spot.

“She walks just like a cat on a hunt,” Harry observed. “Very graceful on the ground.”

“Yes, yes,” Severus responded impatiently, this surprised Harry a bit. The older man sighed. “If you have forgotten, Harry, I have been wearing these robes since Thursday. I feel more grimy than usual.”

“Oh, sorry.” A thought flashed in Harry’s mind. “Thursday. What day is it today?”

Severus frowned. “Sunday.”

“Bloody hell.” Harry blinked. “We have been without food and drink since then?”

“Just food. We had drunk water from the occasional streams,” Severus corrected. “Now come. Let’s get ourselves clean.” The greasy-haired wizard walked off, and Harry followed.

Severus kept glancing all around him and even raised his wand whenever he heard a sound. They finally reached the pond and wordlessly, both started to cast perimeter wards around it. Harry paused after he was done.

“Maybe one of us should stay on guard while the other bathes,” he said thoughtfully.

“There’s no need for that. That’s what the perimeter charms are for. Just be certain that your wand is accessible.”

Harry stared at Severus as the wizard quickly shed off his robes, and he winced upon seeing a hand-sized purple mark on Severus’ back. He was so busy taking note of the older wizard’s injuries that he did not even admire pale cheeks and the mat of black hair that was running down from the navel to the groin.

“Pile your clothes on mine and get in. We will wash them after we have bathed,” Severus instructed and without further delay, he entered the pond. He suddenly disappeared into the bottom.

-oOooOoOooOo-