The End of the Beginning

Chapter Four: Bitter Hopes

"Even Lucifer was God's most beautiful angel the hour before he fell."

A/N: Soundtrack for this chapter- Youth of the Nation-POD, Dear God-Elton John, Bad Day-Fuel, Look at Me-Geri Halliwell (er, don’t ask which scene it fits, it’s a Seamus song),

The boy knelt in a small circle of light, head bowed. People moved in the shadows, invisible to the naked eye. The boy slowly licked blood from his lips as he contemplated the stone floor he rested on, his cloak bunched up around him. He raised his head slowly, the feeble light catching his blonde hair and bloody face, leaving a sad image the minds of those watching.

Lucius moved into the light, staring down at him coldly. He drew back his fist and backhanded the boy, sending him back down to the ground. "Pathetic half blood," he growled softly.

The boy raised up on two arms, looking up at Lucius before spitting out a wad of blood, moving shakily to his knees. "Please, m’lord."

Lucius kicked him in the side, knocking his arms from under him. "You have no right to call me that yet."

"Yes, sir," the boy gasped, holding his side.

Lucius circled him, cloak making a nice dragging sound, the only noise in the room save the shifting of the audience.

"Gryffindor, correct?"

"Yes, sir," the boy said, still rubbing his ribs.

Lucius nodded, moving to the boy’s other side. He swiftly struck, kicking the boy hard, smiling as the sharp crack of a bone breaking rent the air.

The boy gasped, struggling to fight against the pain. To hide how much it hurt. He gagged and spit onto the floor again, blood now filling his saliva from a whole new source. At this rate he wouldn’t live to leave Orkney, to return to the natural world.

Lucius stood in front of him against, staring down at the boy’s bloodied face before turning him up to the light. "Your brother served my late master well, but he was weak, turning traitor when we needed him most. How can I trust you?"

"I am not my brother, sir," the boy spat.

"No, you aren’t, are you?" Lucius said, an odd glint in his eyes as he turned the boy’s face this way and that. "No, you aren’t."

Seamus stared up into Lucius’s face and swallowed heavily, not prepared for another blow that sent him flying back.

*

Neville stared vacantly out at the forest below as he stood on a battlement, the wind whipping around, ruffling his blonde hair. He stared down at the grass below him, no longer green but a dull, brownish red. Forever stained with Colin’s blood. Neville let the tears stream down his cheeks freely, not even waiting the energy to think about wiping them away.

Soft footsteps sounded on the stone behind him as another joined him in his mourning. Arms wrapped around his slowly, carefully, enfolding him against a warm and solid chest. The smell of apples and cinnamon surrounded Neville and he placed a hand on that chest, walls breaking down as the tears came faster. The arms held him closer, one hand running oh so lightly through his hair as he collapsed, bringing them both to their knees.

Neville just cried, letting out all the pain, frustration, anger, hurt, everything that he had been saving up over the past year. The person just held him close, letting the emotions Neville released pour over them and disappear, purging the smaller boy of the pain.

Neville lifted his mouth and captured Percy’s lips hungrily. The other boy held him closer, lips sliding eagerly over Neville’s as he brought a hand up to cup the side of his face, savoring the feeling of holding his beloved in his arms again.

Neville whimpered softly, pressing closer to his former lover, trying to climb inside Percy via his mouth. Percy’s hands found their way to Neville’s cloak clasp and he fumbled with the bit of metal, a grumble of frustration escaping his lips as it refused to budge, denying him access to the boy.

A rip sounded and Neville’s cloak fluttered free, dropping around them, baring the boy’s sweatered body to Percy’s roving hands. Neville whimpered softly as the cold suddenly laced through him, sweater tossed away, forgotten as Percy’s hands roamed over the exposed flesh, enflaming every inch of skin he touched.

Neville’s mouth hungrily moved down Percy’s neck, his owns hands taking a trip of their own as they searched hungrily for the break between pant and shirt, trying to climb under cloth to caress flesh beneath them.

Percy growled softly as Neville’s hands found their target and he bit down gently on the flesh of Neville’s ear, laying the boy back slowly, pulling away gaze down into his eyes, drinking in the sight for later times.

Neville gasped, choking on his sobs as he pushed away from Percy, turning away and running from the battlement, leaving the older boy to stare after him, his own grief etched across his face.

****

Ice slid easily beneath Draco’s skates as he moved across the lake, staying to the edges and avoiding the squid that swam just below the surface. Draco spun in a lazy circle, eyes closed as he drank in the sensations of motion, feeling the ice beneath him, the cold air whipping around his face, stinging his cheeks. He took a deep breath, the cold burning his throat as it went down and he shoved his blade down hard, freezing his motion, blond hair still turning about, whipping around his face.

Draco’s eyes blinked open slowly and he started across the lake, towards the dark, ice that separated banks. He licked his lips slowly, ignoring the fact his tongue almost froze to them before he closed his eyes again and took off, sliding gracefully down the center of the lake, ice creaking and cracks slowly forming behind him as he glided across the shiny surface.

Draco raised his arms gracefully as the ice cracked below him and he sunk quickly into the freezing cold water. The black waves washed up over his head as he sank deeper and deeper weighted down by the heavy skates on his feet. Fish and Grindylows swam past; staring at him and shaking their heads before darting off to places unknown.

Two mermaids swam closer, watching him sink, They whispered to each other as Draco sank past them, his eyes closing, lungs convulsing inside him, air bubbling up out of his mouth in bloody gasps. The pair grabbed his arms and shoved something into his mouth before dragging him towards the surface, screeching as they broke through.

They lay Draco on ice that was solid enough to hold him, each bending close and giving him a gentle kiss on his blue lips before sinking back below the surface, their screeches becoming melodious beneath the waves.

Water started pouring from Draco’s mouth as the plant they gave him did it’s work. Blood poured out with the water, vessels re-knitting and forming inside him as they got used to the pressure. He started to cough, air entering his body for the first time in three minutes. He gasped before moving to the hole in the ice, throwing up the rest of the blood and water inside his body. He lay curled around the hole, holding his stomach, shivering inside his robes as he blinked, trying to focus on where he was and why he was there. He coughed again, a bit of water gurgling up over his lips.

Slowly, ever so slowly he inched away from the hole, until he was far enough and strong enough to stand and get his bearings. His ankles shook as he surveyed the lake before carefully taking off towards Hogwarts, shivering, cold and sick from the gallons of water that had gone both in and out of his body. He skidded to the edge of the lake, stopping in a shower of scraped? ice, reaching a frozen and blue hand for his blade guards, slipping them on after the third attempt, grabbing his cloak and eagerly pulling it around him. He lowered his head as he staggering, up to the castle, the snowdrifts threatening to pull him down into their icy grasp.

Upon reaching Gryffindor tower he shed off his wet clothes, dropping them somewhere in the vicinity of the fireplace by the fireplace, ignoring Hermione and Susan Bone’s looks as he stood nude in front of the fire, shivering violently. He whimpered as something soft and warm was wrapped around him and sank the arms waiting to enfold him.

Neville kissed Draco’s ear lightly and rubbed his arms, trying to warm up the other boy as Draco shivers increased just from sheer human contact. Neville pulled the boy from near the fire and nestled him on a couch before stripping down himself and sliding under the blankets with him holding him tight as they shared warmth.

*

Seamus stared at the shackles around his wrist, sighing as he curled in against the throne chair, his cloak covering him for warmth. He twisted his wrist again, wondering, if he chewed off his thumb, could he escape?

Lucius’ boot came down on Seamus’ shackled hand and Seamus twisted to look up him, blinking in the dim torchlight as he focused on the blonde man above him.

"Stand," Lucius commanded.

Seamus slowly did so, ignoring the trembling in his weakened body. Lucius circled him slowly, reaching out, running a finger around the boy as he moved.

"Follow me," he snapped and unlocked Seamus before striding off, giving Seamus no choice but to follow him. Seamus bit his lip as, along the way, Lucius began to remove his clothing, leaving the older man in just his pants and an unbuttoned dress shirt by the time they reached his rooms. Lucius grabbed the front of Seamus’ pants and jerked the young boy hard against him, kissing him viciously as he backed into the room.

Seamus pulled away slowly, staring up at Lucius as the man unsnapped his cloak, letting it fall away. Lucius smirked and kissed Seamus again, hands working on the buttons of the boy’s shirt as he claimed the mouth pressed against his.

Seamus whimpered softly as his shirt was pushed off, leaving his skin bare to the gaze of his master. Lucius grinned and picked the boy up, carrying him to the waiting bed, kicking the door shut behind him as he did."

*

Justin bit his lip as he sat down on the cool, damp grass, gently placing a bouquet of roses on the grave next to him. He leaned against the tombstone, head resting on the curved corner before he placing a gentle kiss on the marble, sighing softly.

"I miss you, Hannah," he whispered, tracing her name with a finger, wedding ring catching the light softly, reflecting the rays up at him. "I miss you every day," he added, leaning his forehead against the stone. "Why did you leave me here? I could have come with you…we could have been together," he said, a tear sliding down his cheek as he spoke to his lost wife.

Justin lay against the tombstone for a long while, tears sliding down his cheeks as the conversation continued, updating the cold stone on everything that had happened since he last spoke to her. A baby’s cry soon broke through Justin’s tears and he reached over to the small carrier, picking up his son, holding him close. "Hush now, mummy wouldn’t want to hear you crying," he whispered, pulling a bottle from his school bag and fed young Abbot. He smiled as his son suckled contentedly, eyes bright and full of knowledge, just like his mother’s.

"She would have loved to have known you," Justin said softly, running his fingers through Abbot’s curls. "She wanted nothing more then to be a mother."

Abbot yawned, burping softly.

*****

Draco sighed and sucked on a chocolate frog, watching the famous wizard card move. He bit his lip before flicking the card into the fire, watching the flames as they licked across his father’s face.

Neville glanced at him, reaching for a shot of the whiskey Neville "borrowed" from Snape. He studied Draco as he drank, looking at him truly for the first time in a long while. It was not hard to guess as to why others found the former Slytherin attractive. He was beautiful, like a diamond almost. Rare and expensive and would probably kill you if you had the luck...Neville, in time past had often wondered what it would be like to lick Draco’s pale skin. Vanilla and peppermint were the two flavors that came to Neville when he thought about what Draco would taste like. Sadly, he had never tested the theory. They both had the loves of their life before the war and during…well neither had time for such dalliances and then when Harry died Draco had turned away from the pleasures of the flesh, burying himself in the clean up of the war and Neville…Neville still had to stare at his lover’s face.

Draco raised an eyebrow, glancing at Neville as the boy shifted in his seat, moving closer to Draco, placing a gentle hand on his thigh. If Draco didn’t know better he would swear Neville was hitting on him but…Neville didn’t do those sorts of things.

The alcohol they had been consuming numbed Neville’s mind and he struggled to focus as he stared at the boy next to him. Impulse suddenly raced through him and Neville found himself leaning closer, kissing Draco who froze next to him before he groaned softly, pulling Neville closer.

Draco lay back, pulling Neville down onto him as they kissed, his hands running up and down the other boy’s bare back. He adjusted his legs so that Neville kneeled between them, bodies pressed full together as they kissed, moving slowly against each other. Draco whimpered softly, eyes shutting as he drifted away on the sensations that Neville was causing.

Neville gave a small, satisfied smile at the sounds Draco made and slowly kissed his way down Draco’s body, his own sliding down so he could better access the treasure beneath him.

Someone cleared their throat behind the boys and both looked up, startled by Percy’s sudden appearance in the entryway.