Fic: Spider Legs - Part 2
Aug. 11th, 2011 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gin_tonicTitle: Spider Legs - Part 2
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
me_midget (LJ) / gin_tonic (IJ)
Written for:avana96 in the course of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
help_japan
Fandoms: Harry Potter and NCIS
Pairings Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Rating: NC-17
Word count: about 17,500 (in total)
Warning(s): cross-over & some murders on the side
Summary: A crime committed in the US disrupts Harry's quiet life in Scotland. Tony and Gibbs come all the way to Edinburgh to catch the killer, but will Harry and his newfound companions find a way to save them all?
A/N: A huge thank you (with a bow on top) toangela_snape for being brilliant and for the speedy and thorough beta-reading of this monster! Thank you so much for your hard work!
And to the recipient,avana96: I hope you like the HP/NCIS crossover. As you can see, I wrote a bit more than just the promised 2k. ;)
Part 1
Harry busied himself with fixing Malfoy's coffee as he pondered how to approach the topic of going on a date.
"You're quiet today," Malfoy noted with interest and surveyed the muffins, trying to pick out the best (and largest) like he did every time Harry had baked some. "Been so busy talking to the American that you don't have any words left for me?"
"What? No!" Had he heard jealousy in Malfoy's words or was that just wishful thinking on Harry's part? "No, I was just… thinking."
That got a snort from Malfoy. "That can't be good. Is your head hurting already?"
"Arse."
"Well, I'm sure we have a potion for that as well." Malfoy grinned broadly, picked out a muffin and waved it in front of Harry's face, until realisation dawned on Harry and he shot Malfoy a dark look. The coffee machine sputtered to a stop, but Harry made no move to get the cup for Malfoy. Once Malfoy had it, he'd leave and Harry's chance would be gone.
"Potter? Did you fall asleep over there?" Malfoy was waving the muffin again.
"Yeah. No. What?" Harry shook himself and rubbed his neck self-consciously. Now or never, he told himself. After all, Malfoy probably thought he was an idiot already, so things couldn't get any worse. "I was wondering… would you like get something to drink or something?"
"Potter." Malfoy sighed. "It might have slipped your notice, but I already ordered coffee."
"No, what I mean is," Harry cleared his throat. "Would you like to go for a drink with me." Malfoy blinked at that, the muffin nearly slipping from his hand. "Or dinner?" Harry added somewhat desperately.
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
Harry blushed, hard. "Well, I'm trying."
"Huh." Malfoy blinked again, then stared at his muffin and moved it like he was weighing it. "Alright."
"Is that a yes?" Harry beamed so much that his grin threatened to break free from his face.
"Are you deaf now, Potter? Or is that 'thinking' bothering you again? Of course I said yes." Malfoy huffed, grabbed his muffin tightly and walked behind the counter. "And you better make it a good date. I'll be at your place at eight." He grabbed his coffee cup from the machine and marched out of the shop, leaving Harry flustered, but still grinning, in his wake.
******
Snape shot him another one of those mean glares that might have an effect on other people, but had none on someone who had spent years working with Gibbs, and crossed his legs. "Tell me again how you got me to agree to this ludicrous idea. I distinctly remember telling you to shove it."
Tony grinned at that. He'd been in a good mood ever since he successfully play match-maker for Harry. He was a little sad not to get coffee and muffins for free, but the glee at being right about Blondie and Harry being into each other was stronger. "Well, I'm good at talking."
"You don't say," Snape drawled. "Talking people into things, rather."
"Oh, you wound me, Snape!" Tony did a fake faint – a quite good one at that – and laughed.
"Good."
"Would you stop wasting your breaths and finally pour me a goddamn drink?!" Gibbs crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked impatient. "Just because the two lovebirds intend on having their date while we're still smack in the middle of our investigation doesn't mean we have to go dry here."
Tony raised his arms in defeat – well, actually he agreed – and looked at Snape expectantly. Snape just gave a disgusted snort and waved his wand around, making some glasses and an old looking bottle float over.
"Whiskey. Scotch Whiskey, to be exact," Snape said, as if that had to mean something to Tony. He might know how his father liked his drink and that Gibbs liked a glass of Jack now and then, but he had never bothered to learn the difference between all the different kinds of whiskey. Or whisky. He accepted a glass from Snape nevertheless – after all, who'd turn a drink down on a night like this?
"You know," Tony said, "This kind of reminds me of a movie." He ignored the comments the other men made and went on to elaborate on a complicated plot of a movie he'd seen years ago, which started with three men sitting in a bar, having a drink. It was a good one, he told them, though he was sure they weren't listening. Kate had once told him he was a very useful background noise – perfect to keep silence away, but not really worth listening to. Tony'd been mightily offended, of course, but actually he didn't mind too much now. People not really listening was something you got used to.
"You got that wrong."
Tony blinked at Gibbs, who finished off his glass and placed it on the ground. "Huh?"
Gibbs looked at him, making Tony pause before he could even begin his protest. "They didn't get shot in the end. Only one guy did, the others rode off into sunset together."
******
Harry wished he had had more time to prepare. Doing the date – at home, nonetheless – the same day he'd asked Malfoy out was such a massively bad idea. He was already frazzled and the date hadn't even begun! For the fifth time in a row he checked the living room for stray socks, magazines and wood shavings, which Gibbs sometimes left behind when he was carving little figures out of wood. DiNozzo had tried to explain the carving thing to him, muttering about Bourbon, a basement and a boat, but it had been utterly incomprehensible for Harry.
He found nothing out of order – thank Merlin for cleaning spells! – and wandered into the kitchen to check up on the meat he had in the oven. Beef Wellington was his choice for tonight – something that tasted good, looked good on a plate and, importantly, he had made once before. Especially after a day filled with pastries and pastrami sandwiches, Harry longed for something hearty and he hoped that Malfoy, despite his evident sweet tooth, did too.
Maybe he should pour the wine. He'd never had a date at home, especially not a first, and the last time he'd gone out with someone had been … well. A while ago. But pouring the wine sounded like a good idea. He had no clue about that kind of thing, had just bought a wine that the bloke in the shop had recommended him, but he had heard that you were supposed to let wine breathe. Just as he unstopped the bottle, the doorbell rang.
He greeted Malfoy awkwardly with something between a wave, a handshake and a hug. "Hey," he mumbled and led Malfoy into the living room. Malfoy looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't and instead shuffled his feet briefly. Harry smiled at that – Malfoy was as nervous as he was.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"Yes, please."
"I make a mean Gin & Tonic."
Malfoy grinned and sat down on the couch. "Why, Potter, I didn't know you had talents."
Harry laughed and stuck out his tongue, all the while summoning gin and tonic water from the fridge. "I suppose the usual first-date-small-talk won't really cut it, right?"
"You mean 'Did you find my place easily, this is the living room what do you think, you look good tonight'?"
"Well, you do look good, but not only tonight."
"Smooth, Potter, smooth."
Harry handed Malfoy his drink and they clinked glasses. Slow his nervousness was dissipating, leaving behind the delightful fizzle of happy anticipation and curiosity. "How are you doing, by the way? All the effects from the curse gone?"
"Yes, apart from a slight ache in my shoulder I'm good." Malfoy sniffed. "The drink certainly helps." The oven timer started beeping and Harry excused himself.
******
"I'm surprised, Potter," Malfoy said as he lay down his cutlery and leaned back with a satisfied sigh.
Harry blushed slightly at what was a typical Malfoy-ish compliment. "At what? My cooking? You eat my things at the café every day."
"Yes, but this was…" Malfoy waved his hand a round in a twirly gesture. "So elaborate. And delicious."
"Thanks." So far the date had gone well. Neither of them had mentioned Snape, Gibbs, DiNozzo or the mess they were in, the fight had only been mentioned in passing and the insults they shared were more light hearted banter than anything else. "Would you like dessert?"
"I would."
Harry got up to get the pudding he'd prepared, but stopped as Malfoy grabbed his wrist. "What?"
"I wasn't exactly thinking about food." With that Malfoy pulled Harry closer until Harry had no chance but to sit on Malfoy's lap. He forgot all about how he was blushing, how he had thought he'd be the first to initiate something, when Malfoy's lips touched his. Somehow his arms wound up around Malfoy's neck and he parted his lips, their kiss turning from gentle to passionate.
"Now that, Potter, is what I call a real talent." Malfoy leaned his forehead against Harry's and chuckled.
"Harry."
"Huh?"
"Call me Harry." Harry bent down to kiss Malfoy – Draco – again. "Let's go sit on the couch." Harry pulled Draco, who was flushed and smiling, up and into the living room, but they didn't exactly spend the rest their evening sitting…
******
Snape looked at his pocket watch and frowned.
"Do you want us to leave?" Tony asked and glanced at his own watch. It was already past midnight, but Harry hadn't called or given him any sign that it was okay to come back over. Did he really want to go over to Harry's place already? After all, he didn't want to throw a guy off his game.
"No. I expect Draco and Potter are shagging like wild monkeys by now, so you'll have to content yourselves with staying here." Snape cleared his throat and got up. "I, however, will retire now."
Gibbs snorted. "Yeah right. I can sleep about anywhere, but I won't share that lumpy small-ass couch with DiNozzo."
Snape pointed his wand quicker than Tony could jump up and Tony suddenly found himself sitting in the middle of a bed instead of on the couch.
"There. Problem solved," Snape said and left without saying any more Good-nights. Tony cleared his throat. One bed. One fucking queen-sized bed in which he and Gibbs would undoubtedly touch. Repeatedly. His body heated at the thought. He wasn't sure if he'd survive this night.
"Guess we should be thankful that he didn't make it a frilly bed," Tony said and put his glass on the floor before he flopped back into the pillows. The ceiling, he found, had a very interesting pattern of cracks in it. Maybe he should point that out to Snape in the morning.
The bed dipped as Gibbs sat down next to Tony.
"Say Boss?" Tony waited a couple of seconds until he knew that he had Gibbs' full attention. "Have you ever seen any of those old movies when the hero has his one true love right in front of him the whole time, but doesn't realize until the movie is nearly over and it's nearly too late?"
"Why?"
Gibbs question was more a grunt than anything else, but Tony understood it nevertheless. He wasn't quite ready to answer it, though, and continued: "You see, the hero's love is always there, right in front of his face, and has to wait around and see the hero with all these other women –"
"DiNozzo." Exasperation, maybe a little bit of trepidation, but mainly impatience. "Your point?"
"I'm not saying it's too late, Boss, but –"
"What do you want to say, Tony?"
Tony turned and looked Gibbs in the eyes. "Why have you never made a pass at me?" It took guts to ask this question – more than Tony had expected he had – but as he turned to look at Gibbs and found the man stunned, he discovered it had been worth it. Gibbs' face pulled into a frown and he parted his lips to protest, but Tony was too quick to let him. "Spare me the talk about Rule 12 and how you should mess around with your partner. You care about me. You're attracted to me." Tony sat up again and scooted closer. Before Gibbs could get out of the bed Tony put his hand on his. "You must be blind if you can't see that I feel the same. Have for years."
"Aw hell, Tony."
"And I'm not saying I'm your one true love. Maybe I'm not." Tony took a deep breath. "But I think we deserve a chance to find out." He looked back at the wall, giving Gibbs time to think and hating every passing second of it. After what seemed eons, Gibbs' squeezed his hand, gently.
"I do too."
******
Tony looked at the tourist guide in his hand and tried not to feel utterly ridiculous. It had been his idea to go disguised as tourists, so he couldn't complain no matter how much he wanted to. Usually when he went undercover in a different country he got to be someone cool. Cool wouldn't cut it, though, he knew. Not when they had to traipse through Edinburgh looking for an old-fashioned door in which the murderer's old fashioned key might fit.
Gibbs was silent at his side, leaning in every once in a while as if to peek at the map in Tony's hands, but really just taking the chance to brush against Tony. Tony was sure Gibbs knew how mad he was driving him with anticipation. They hadn't kissed yet, hadn't really done anything but fall asleep touching each other. But, God, how much he wanted Gibbs to shove him against the nearest wall, take his lips with a bruising kiss and then take him, right then and there.
A slap to the back of his head made Tony snap out of his fantasy again. He shot Gibbs, who looked only too amused not to know what was going on in Tony's head, a dark look, and continued to look for an old door in Edinburgh's old town. They'd decided looking in what Snape had called a 'Muggle district' might be the safest bet for them, as they might attract attention in the wizarding districts. Tony guessed that it wasn't those parts of town that they would find their killer in. After all, Harry had talked about the guy probably not using security measurements he called wards – something like that might attract the neighbors' attention. No, some house in a more inconspicuous area – at least to a wizard – might be where they might find him.
Gibbs bumped against Tony again. "Found anything yet?"
"No. You?" Tony waited for Gibbs to shake his head. "This is going to be a long day."
******
The chimes at the door announced new visitors and Harry looked up with a smile. Instead of seeing Draco, he found himself facing old Auror colleagues who looked exhausted.
"What can I get you?" he asked, still wearing his smile. He was glad DiNozzo was out today, as his presence would provoke unwelcome questions. They had briefly considered involving the Aurors, but Gibbs hadn't liked the idea of turning the case over to complete strangers. In fact they could count themselves lucky that no Auror had caught wind of two Muggles residing with him, what with them occasionally frequenting his café. After all, people, especially law enforcement, liked to shop, eat and drink where they knew people – and who did you know better than your old co-workers? Thankfully their headquarters weren't anywhere near to Velveteen Close and their business seldom took them here.
Harry took the Aurors' orders and went on about his business, preparing their take-away, all the while listening in on their conversation. That was another thing Aurors did – if you had been one of them they didn't bother to moderate their talk that much.
"I hear the scene was pretty gruesome. Was there mess like in that case with Yaxley?"
"No, nothing like that. In fact, there wasn't a drop of blood. That's just what made the murder so creepy."
"An Avada then?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
"Haven't had those in a while."
They stopped talking, memory probably taking them the same place as it took Harry – to Voldemort and the war. For a while the only thing that could be heard was the sputter of the coffee maker, then Harry broke the silence with a spell to grill a sandwich.
"You know what's really weird about the murder, though? There was a dead spider pinned to the guy's chest."
Harry's hands started trembling at that. Another murder. Their murderer had killed again.
"Pinned?"
If only he'd managed to beat the murderer in their duel. If only he hadn't been drinking that night. He could have prevented the whole thing.
"Yeah, with a knife. And underneath the spider was a note, saying 'It should have been you'."
The plate with the grilled sandwich slipped from Harry's hand and crashed on the floor.
******
Draco entered just as the Aurors left and his eyes immediately zoomed in on the cut on Harry's hand. "What happened?" His glance back at the Aurors told of his suspicions.
"Nothing. Just cut myself on some shards." Harry ran water over his bleeding hand, cursing under his breath and listening to Draco coming behind the counter.
"Give me that." Despite Draco's brusque words he took Harry's hand with surprising gentleness and dried it carefully. "Episkey." The wound slowly closed, leaving only a slight sting behind.
"Thanks." Harry pressed a shy kiss to the corner of Draco's mouth and blushed. All bad things he'd heard about were forgotten at once.
Draco glimpsed over his shoulder to check if there were any customers, but apart from Draco and the Aurors it was a slow morning. The door clicked as a locking spell fell into place. "Severus doesn't expect me back for a while. What about Gibbs and his hunky monkey?"
Harry snorted and shook his head. "They are trying to find the door and lock that fit to the key. Could take a couple of hours till they're back."
Draco grinned at that, whipped out his wand again and put a spell on the windows that Harry recognized as causing an illusion of an empty room. "You have no idea how long I've fantasised about fucking you over the counter."
Harry responded by pulling Draco close and kissing him hard. He was already half hard, his erection straining against his trousers, and he ground his body against Draco's. He had never wanted anyone more than he wanted Draco. His hand pushed under Draco's shirt, touching smooth skin, muscles pulled taut in anticipation. Draco gripped his arse, hard, making Harry moan low in his throat.
They broke the kiss and Harry let himself be pushed against the counter. Draco unbuttoned Harry's trousers and pushed them and Harry's boxer-briefs down in a smooth motion before pressing his crotch against Harry's arse.
Harry spread his legs as far as his trousers let him and ground back against Draco, causing them both to groan.
"Come on," Harry urged Draco and reached behind him, impatiently pulling him closer. Draco pressed a kiss to Harry's neck and hurriedly spelled lube on his fingers before pushing one into Harry. "Merlin, yes!" A second finger joined the first, moving in and out, spreading, twisting, and never failing to hit the spot. "Please! Don't make me wait!"
Draco's breath was hot on Harry's neck as he fumbled with his own trousers, his erection straining against the fabric and surely causing the lube to leave stains. Harry pushed his arse back to make him hurry up and bent over some more. Then another spell and Draco's lubed-up cock pressed against Harry's hole. Draco pushed in slowly, causing them both to tremble. Harry bit his lip at the burn, but urged Draco on. Slowly, Draco started moving. Harry's loud moan as he hit the spot made him speed up, his hips snapping back and forth, fucking Harry hard.
Draco's fingers pushed into Harry's mouth while his other hand was splayed out on Harry's stomach, pulling him closer with every movement. Harry held on to counter with all he got. Draco's pants pressed into Harry's flesh, but he barely noticed. The only thing mattering now was Draco's cock inside him.
Soon he felt the familiar tingle starting in his thighs, racing first down, then up his legs, and with a shout he came, his arse clenching around Draco and pulling him over the edge was well. Panting, they collapsed onto the counter, Draco pressing kisses to Harry's sweaty neck.
******
When Tony and Gibbs, and only moments later Snape, entered the café, the first thing he noticed about Harry and Draco looked thoroughly fucked – a fact that none of the other men seemed to miss. Tony didn't even try to keep himself from smirking and he gave them an only too obvious, knowing nod. It got him a head-slap from Gibbs, who snorted in amusement, but it was definitely worth it.
As soon as everyone had settled down, though, the mood changed immediately. Tension was thick in the air and Tony considered for a moment whether or not he should mimic cutting it with the tiny knife Harry had given him with his sandwich, but decided that the head-slap that would sure as hell follow would not be one of the good kind. He kept his hands busy with the sandwich instead.
"Did you find the door?" Snape asked. He hadn't even touched his tea yet.
Gibbs nodded, but it was Tony who answered: "We did. It's not that far from here, but quite hidden in Baron Maule's Close." There were so many tiny, hidden streets in Edinburgh that Tony wondered why there weren't more robberies and assaults happening. At least Scotland didn't have a gun culture – knives were far more popular and, if seen early enough, something both he and Gibbs could deal with. "The house looked abandoned though."
"Simple trick. An illusion that is easy enough to manage. What's surprising is that you didn't feel the need to visit the doctor or check if you've left the stove on," Blondie commented and leaned back in the chair.
Tony looked at Harry for an explanation. "There are charms that can repel Muggles. They are often used by the magical community – it's easier than erasing someone's memory."
"I'm not sure if I really wanted to know that," Tony mumbled and shook himself. No matter how nice wizards were, they could be damn creepy.
"Anything else?" Snape asked while stirring his tea with a face that spoke of clear disdain.
Harry's face suddenly turned ashen. "There's something. There were Aurors in here earlier and they talked about a new case. Someone was killed with exactly the same MO as our previous victims – only that this one had a note pinned to his chest. It was a message, to me."
******
The discussion following Harry's revelation was surprisingly unanimous. It was heated, nonetheless, with Harry wanting to charge in as soon as possible, to which DiNozzo and Gibbs agreed, while Draco and Snape cautioned them.
"But we can't sit around and do nothing!" Harry cried and paced around the café.
"No one is asking you to. All that we're saying is that we shouldn't go in half-cocked! We need to have a plan!" Draco pushed Harry back into a chair. "Now if you would stop moaning and beating yourself up about something that you couldn't have changed, we could maybe talk about that."
Harry blinked at Draco and nodded. How had he never noticed before how well Draco knew him?
"Good. Now, we all agree that we have to do something. Does anyone think we shouldn't do it tonight?" No one even twitched and Draco gave a satisfied nod. "At least we agree on that. Now, what do we know about this place? For I will surely not bust into some building before I know whether or not a bloody madman is inside and if he has laid any traps for us."
"We can't discard the idea of traps, but as Potter and DiNozzo pointed out before, the likelihood of there being wards, especially seeing at there weren't any Muggle repellents, is quite low." Snape flicked his wand and banished the tea in front of him, then waved his empty cup towards Harry. With a sigh, knowing Snape would only get cranky without an infusion of tea, Harry got up to make some more. "A trap would be a preferable plan. Better than to charge the man head on, as we know what happened last time someone tried that." A sideways-glance to Harry. Memories of the fight fizzed through Harry's mind until he was pulled back by DiNozzo's follow-up question.
"Is there any way we can find out whether our guy is inside?" DiNozzo helped himself to another sandwich. That man's stomach was a bottomless pit, just like Ron's. Harry wondered briefly why neither of them seemed to put on any weight. He himself had had to watch his intake of food – while he had been a waif in his youth and still looked quite the runt, he noted there was a certain softness to his hips these days.
"I guess the usual observation techniques won't cut it," Gibbs butted in. The man was quiet in general and Harry could easily picture him lying in wait in front of a perp's house. DiNozzo had told him stories about Gibbs' legendary abilities as a sniper, even though Harry had problems merging the impatient man who was out to get their murderer with someone who had the patience to lie in wait, not moving for hours. "Any spells that could help?"
"Nothing to find out where the guy is – after all I would have done that before, had I been able to. You can do it, but you need something of the guy, a hair, or … well. Something." Harry brought Snape his tea, who took it without comment or thanks. "But I could cast something to see if a wizard is close by."
"No way!" Draco crossed his arms in front of his chest and glowered at him.
"Why the hell not?!" was Gibbs' angry shout. Impatient again.
Snape stretched out his legs and sniffed the tea. "Because Draco and I would have to be away from Potter. Otherwise he'd get confused by our auras." It sounded like a bad joke, but it was true, unfortunately. "And he needs to be close to the house. Or in it. The spell only has a certain, short range."
Harry gave Draco a pleading look. "There's no other chance. Otherwise all of us will be put in danger."
Draco snorted and looked away. "Why do you always have to play the hero, Potter?"
And there it was again – last name basis. Harry decided to push that into the back of his mind for now. He had something more important to focus on for now. He could only hope Draco would forgive him this bit recklessness.
******
Tony wasn't happy about Harry playing bait and just like Gibbs he would have protested the suggestion, had they not known that there wasn't any other way for this to go down. Blondie was hiding with Gibbs in front of the building and he and Snape scoped out the back of it. Tony would have been happier if he could have been with Gibbs, but Gibbs trusted Snape and Snape trusted Blondie, so he had no choice but to be okay with the arrangement. And really, doing this without a wizard at his side would just get him killed.
He wished he could see Harry going in, at least know something about what was going on, but Tony had to prove his own patience for once. But he wasn't a Very Special Agent for nothing, so he shut his mouth, saved all the movie references for later (Gibbs was more likely to get them anyway), and waited.
******
Harry entered the house slowly, carefully. His techniques had changed a lot since the war. Gone was the rashness that had nearly gotten him killed during his time as an Auror. Oh, he was still very much the Gryffindor – after all he wouldn't enter a murderer's house all on his own if he wasn't – but there was a certain amount of carefulness that came with the conclusion that he'd been too close to death too many times. At one point, he knew, his nine lives – or however many had been granted to him – would be gone, along with his luck.
The house lay in stillness, dust everywhere, at least on the ground floor. It didn't look like the bloke had been down here at all, but Harry knew that first impressions could be deceiving. He cast a wordless detection spell, but nothing showed. No curse, no traps, not down here. He exhaled, stood up straighter and cast the charm to find out whether there was another wizard around. Nothing.
Harry moved through the ground floor as quietly as possible. In some way the house reminded him of Grimmauld Place – old, dusty, and evidence for how wealthy old wizard families could be. Because this clearly had been the residence of old blood wizards and witches. Pictures were hanging on the walls, their occupants blurred by dirt and dust and moving about sluggishly, as if the years of inattention had let them forget that they were supposed to do more than hang on walls.
He moved up the stairs, checking for both traps and the murderer again, and again coming up empty. To the right lay the sitting room. A tapestry was covering the wall; just like there had been one with the family tree in Grimmauld Place, there was one here. Harry looked up and found the name Comyn adorning the tree. He followed the line of direct descendants to the last name charmed on the tapestry. Xerxes. Maybe that was their guy's name. Harry tried the name out loud. "Xerxes."
******
The flash made the night light up. Tony flinched and only then registered the thunder that was following. Thrown for only a moment, he rallied forwards, towards the house, towards the noise. He heard someone shouting, but wasn't sure whether it was himself or Snape. A black blur at his side told him Snape was running, too. Running towards what, Tony didn't know. He threw himself against the door, but it didn't budge.
"Move!"
Tony jumped aside just before the door practically exploded. He ran after Snape. Familiar footsteps. Gibbs was there too. Panic in Blondie's face as they bounded up the stairs, towards light and noise and terror.
The first thing he saw was Harry on unsteady legs standing in the middle of the living room, wand drawn. Tony followed the line of the wand towards the attacker – and crashed to the floor as Gibbs pulled him down. A spell – hot, dangerous – whizzed over him, right where he had been standing.
"Stay down." Gibbs breath sounded harsh to his ears, all too clear and real when everything else seemed like it had stepped out of a nightmare. He didn't loosen his grip on Tony's arm and Tony didn't want him to.
Snape and Blondie rushed to Harry's aid, pointing their wands, Snape casting a spell before he'd even come to a stop. The light of the spell hit the perp full on, but he was laughing, cackling, like it had been nothing. Tony's hand went to his side, where he usually had his gun in his holster, but of course there wasn't anything there. So he clutched his knife instead, a feeble hope that would probably do him no good against this monster.
The perp was still laughing as Harry and the other began to fire spells at him, their colors breaking the dusty darkness of the room. The spells were dodged, repelled, and they began to move as if in a macabre dance.
Harry cried out as something grazed his leg, making it spell and ooze immediately, but he kept on going. Gibbs' grip tightened and Tony looked at him. "We have to –" he started and Gibbs nodded – nodded at the perp and how he held his left arm. A dim memory of the alley behind the pub and Harry's final spell hitting the guy hard came to Tony and his eyes widened in realization. A weak spot. If only they could –
A spell raced towards them and they rolled apart, the spell leaving stink and heat behind.
******
Harry dragged his injured leg behind himself and reflected the next spell as quick as he could. This would not go over well, not when Xerxes could counter all of their spells, not if he continued with the speed he was casting in.
There was a crash to his left and he whirled around in panic, expecting to see DiNozzo's and Gibbs' bloodied bodies. They were gone. He cast another Petrificus Totalus at Xerxes, this time enough to make him stumble a bit. There was no time to think. Another crash – this time from a vase smashing against Xerxes' shield.
"What the –"
Xerxes let out an animal-like yell and threw himself towards DiNozzo, who had thrown the vase, picked him up by the neck and lifted him as if he was nothing but a doll. With near professional precision Gibbs tackled Xerxes, catching him off guard. But Xerxes, still holding DiNozzo, only staggered and sent Gibbs flying against the wall.
Something in the back of Harry's head was screaming "NOW!" and he cast the strongest Expelliarmus he could manage, at the same time seeing red and green spells flying towards Xerxes from Draco's and Snape wands.
With a wail that was cut short, Xerxes crumpled and lay still. DiNozzo was coughing and pressing his hands to his neck. Harry had his wand still pointed at Xerxes.
"Is it over?" He barely trusted his voice. DiNozzo looked down at Xerxes, then kicked him hard. Xerxes didn't even give a twitch. Slowly, DiNozzo staggered to get up, then kicked him again, this time right in the groin.
Snape gave an exhausted snort. "Seems like it is." And with that Harry let himself sink to the ground. Draco started healing Harry's leg, claiming that he would need a couple of potions from the shop to heal it completely, while Snape, just to make completely certain, bound Xerxes' body with thick ropes. Gibbs was propped up against the wall he had crashed into and fussed over by DiNozzo, who seemed mostly fine.
Those two, Harry found, would have been ideal candidates for Gryffindor. So reckless they came close to stupidity, but they certainly got the job done.
******
A check through the house revealed more of Xerxes Comyn's story. There were family pictures with him as boy up until his fourth year in Hogwarts. After that there were no pictures, nothing that bore witness to the life of him or his family. Snape found the bones of the parents in an upstairs bedroom. It seemed as though they had been killed in their sleep.
Gibbs checked Xerxes body for anything that could be of interest. He found five dead spiders, the key that had led them to this house and a Dark Mark on Xerxes arm.
"He was a Death Eater?" Harry looked at Snape and Draco with wide eyes, but they only shook their heads.
"I never heard of him and I've never seen his face until now," Snape said, frowning.
"He must have been recruited early then. A secret weapon, maybe? The Dark Lord wasn't exactly known for his sanity." Harry let Draco help him up and leaned on him. His leg felt numb, thank Merlin.
"No, I sincerely doubt that." Snape looked at the Dark Mark, then turned the body slightly and lifted the robe. "Torture marks. From potions and spells and from instruments." He let go of body and robe and took a couple of steps back. "Seems like he was one of the Dark Lords early experiments. He obviously was successful in driving him mad and turning him into a murderous machine, but I suspect he lost control of this one early on."
"Not that the Dark Lord minded when people got killed," Draco muttered. "I bet he enjoyed it."
"Possibly." Snape lifted his wand and pointed it. "Best to make sure he doesn't bother us again. Incendio!"
They watched the body burn away to cinders, the fire amplified by magic. When the last flame died and the ashes were spelled away, they gave a collective sigh, weariness now bearing heavy on them.
"I need a drink," Gibbs said and Snape nodded emphatically. It was the last time Harry would see the house.
******
"Are you sure you have to leave? Can't you stay a bit longer?" Harry said and looked truly regretful that Tony and Gibbs were leaving. Well. Possibly more regretful about Tony heading back home than about Gibbs, but then again it had been Tony who had been giving him (very successful) dating advice.
"Yeah, our team's waiting for us. Besides, they are probably pissed off like hell – we haven't exactly kept in contact with them since we arrived."
"They're used to it," Gibbs grunted from near the wall, where he was standing in perfect marine posture.
"From you maybe, Boss, but not from me. And even that has never stopped them from being mad." Gibbs only snorted, but that was answer enough with the man anyway. Tony had gotten more than he had hoped for during the trip. They had managed to catch the bad guy and he had managed to get his guy.
The taxi they had called to take them to the airport stopped next to them on the street. "Well, this is good-bye then."
"You can come visit any time," Harry said and shook his hand. " And thanks for everything."
"No, thank you. After all, we disrupted your routine. Tore Dorothy from Kansas." Tony laughed as Harry punched him in the shoulder. "You should visit D.C. sometime. If you do, give me a call." He had already made sure to leave his address and number at Harry's apartment.
"Blondie."
"DiNozzo."
They shook hands, respectful – well, Tony wore a lewd smirk and wiggled his eyebrows at Blondie and Harry. He nodded at Snape, seemed to prefer it that way. Grinning broadly, Tony then went over to Gibbs, who had just finished his good-byes, and took Gibbs' hand in his. He grinned even more at Gibbs' scowl and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Can't tell me not to do it because someone could see, because there's no one here who knows us apart from these three, and they already know everything there is to know."
Gibbs snorted and shook his head. "I'm not saying any of that."
"You aren't?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean you won't, either?"
"Work's work, Tony, but in private…" Gibbs shrugged and that was enough for Tony. He pulled Gibbs close and kissed him – tongues touching, hands on butt, and everything – and ignored the cat-calls from Harry and Blondie. He knew he could keep things separate – had done that for years, could function even when head over heels, Audrey Hepburn-like in love. He had Gibbs for good now. Life was fucking good. (And possibly full of good fucking.)
They got into the taxi and Tony enthusiastically waved as the car pulled away.
"Goodbye Edinburgh," Tony said and took Gibbs' hand again. "And just so you know, once we're back home we'll christen ever single room in your house. And my apartment."
"Anything else?"
"Well, I don't know if we can get away with MTAC or the bullpen –" The expected head-slap made him laugh. Yes, life was good.
******
The End
Author:
me_midget (LJ) / gin_tonic (IJ)Written for:
avana96 in the course of help_japanFandoms: Harry Potter and NCIS
Pairings Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Rating: NC-17
Word count: about 17,500 (in total)
Warning(s): cross-over & some murders on the side
Summary: A crime committed in the US disrupts Harry's quiet life in Scotland. Tony and Gibbs come all the way to Edinburgh to catch the killer, but will Harry and his newfound companions find a way to save them all?
A/N: A huge thank you (with a bow on top) to
angela_snape for being brilliant and for the speedy and thorough beta-reading of this monster! Thank you so much for your hard work!And to the recipient,
avana96: I hope you like the HP/NCIS crossover. As you can see, I wrote a bit more than just the promised 2k. ;)Part 1
Harry busied himself with fixing Malfoy's coffee as he pondered how to approach the topic of going on a date.
"You're quiet today," Malfoy noted with interest and surveyed the muffins, trying to pick out the best (and largest) like he did every time Harry had baked some. "Been so busy talking to the American that you don't have any words left for me?"
"What? No!" Had he heard jealousy in Malfoy's words or was that just wishful thinking on Harry's part? "No, I was just… thinking."
That got a snort from Malfoy. "That can't be good. Is your head hurting already?"
"Arse."
"Well, I'm sure we have a potion for that as well." Malfoy grinned broadly, picked out a muffin and waved it in front of Harry's face, until realisation dawned on Harry and he shot Malfoy a dark look. The coffee machine sputtered to a stop, but Harry made no move to get the cup for Malfoy. Once Malfoy had it, he'd leave and Harry's chance would be gone.
"Potter? Did you fall asleep over there?" Malfoy was waving the muffin again.
"Yeah. No. What?" Harry shook himself and rubbed his neck self-consciously. Now or never, he told himself. After all, Malfoy probably thought he was an idiot already, so things couldn't get any worse. "I was wondering… would you like get something to drink or something?"
"Potter." Malfoy sighed. "It might have slipped your notice, but I already ordered coffee."
"No, what I mean is," Harry cleared his throat. "Would you like to go for a drink with me." Malfoy blinked at that, the muffin nearly slipping from his hand. "Or dinner?" Harry added somewhat desperately.
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
Harry blushed, hard. "Well, I'm trying."
"Huh." Malfoy blinked again, then stared at his muffin and moved it like he was weighing it. "Alright."
"Is that a yes?" Harry beamed so much that his grin threatened to break free from his face.
"Are you deaf now, Potter? Or is that 'thinking' bothering you again? Of course I said yes." Malfoy huffed, grabbed his muffin tightly and walked behind the counter. "And you better make it a good date. I'll be at your place at eight." He grabbed his coffee cup from the machine and marched out of the shop, leaving Harry flustered, but still grinning, in his wake.
Snape shot him another one of those mean glares that might have an effect on other people, but had none on someone who had spent years working with Gibbs, and crossed his legs. "Tell me again how you got me to agree to this ludicrous idea. I distinctly remember telling you to shove it."
Tony grinned at that. He'd been in a good mood ever since he successfully play match-maker for Harry. He was a little sad not to get coffee and muffins for free, but the glee at being right about Blondie and Harry being into each other was stronger. "Well, I'm good at talking."
"You don't say," Snape drawled. "Talking people into things, rather."
"Oh, you wound me, Snape!" Tony did a fake faint – a quite good one at that – and laughed.
"Good."
"Would you stop wasting your breaths and finally pour me a goddamn drink?!" Gibbs crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked impatient. "Just because the two lovebirds intend on having their date while we're still smack in the middle of our investigation doesn't mean we have to go dry here."
Tony raised his arms in defeat – well, actually he agreed – and looked at Snape expectantly. Snape just gave a disgusted snort and waved his wand around, making some glasses and an old looking bottle float over.
"Whiskey. Scotch Whiskey, to be exact," Snape said, as if that had to mean something to Tony. He might know how his father liked his drink and that Gibbs liked a glass of Jack now and then, but he had never bothered to learn the difference between all the different kinds of whiskey. Or whisky. He accepted a glass from Snape nevertheless – after all, who'd turn a drink down on a night like this?
"You know," Tony said, "This kind of reminds me of a movie." He ignored the comments the other men made and went on to elaborate on a complicated plot of a movie he'd seen years ago, which started with three men sitting in a bar, having a drink. It was a good one, he told them, though he was sure they weren't listening. Kate had once told him he was a very useful background noise – perfect to keep silence away, but not really worth listening to. Tony'd been mightily offended, of course, but actually he didn't mind too much now. People not really listening was something you got used to.
"You got that wrong."
Tony blinked at Gibbs, who finished off his glass and placed it on the ground. "Huh?"
Gibbs looked at him, making Tony pause before he could even begin his protest. "They didn't get shot in the end. Only one guy did, the others rode off into sunset together."
Harry wished he had had more time to prepare. Doing the date – at home, nonetheless – the same day he'd asked Malfoy out was such a massively bad idea. He was already frazzled and the date hadn't even begun! For the fifth time in a row he checked the living room for stray socks, magazines and wood shavings, which Gibbs sometimes left behind when he was carving little figures out of wood. DiNozzo had tried to explain the carving thing to him, muttering about Bourbon, a basement and a boat, but it had been utterly incomprehensible for Harry.
He found nothing out of order – thank Merlin for cleaning spells! – and wandered into the kitchen to check up on the meat he had in the oven. Beef Wellington was his choice for tonight – something that tasted good, looked good on a plate and, importantly, he had made once before. Especially after a day filled with pastries and pastrami sandwiches, Harry longed for something hearty and he hoped that Malfoy, despite his evident sweet tooth, did too.
Maybe he should pour the wine. He'd never had a date at home, especially not a first, and the last time he'd gone out with someone had been … well. A while ago. But pouring the wine sounded like a good idea. He had no clue about that kind of thing, had just bought a wine that the bloke in the shop had recommended him, but he had heard that you were supposed to let wine breathe. Just as he unstopped the bottle, the doorbell rang.
He greeted Malfoy awkwardly with something between a wave, a handshake and a hug. "Hey," he mumbled and led Malfoy into the living room. Malfoy looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't and instead shuffled his feet briefly. Harry smiled at that – Malfoy was as nervous as he was.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"Yes, please."
"I make a mean Gin & Tonic."
Malfoy grinned and sat down on the couch. "Why, Potter, I didn't know you had talents."
Harry laughed and stuck out his tongue, all the while summoning gin and tonic water from the fridge. "I suppose the usual first-date-small-talk won't really cut it, right?"
"You mean 'Did you find my place easily, this is the living room what do you think, you look good tonight'?"
"Well, you do look good, but not only tonight."
"Smooth, Potter, smooth."
Harry handed Malfoy his drink and they clinked glasses. Slow his nervousness was dissipating, leaving behind the delightful fizzle of happy anticipation and curiosity. "How are you doing, by the way? All the effects from the curse gone?"
"Yes, apart from a slight ache in my shoulder I'm good." Malfoy sniffed. "The drink certainly helps." The oven timer started beeping and Harry excused himself.
"I'm surprised, Potter," Malfoy said as he lay down his cutlery and leaned back with a satisfied sigh.
Harry blushed slightly at what was a typical Malfoy-ish compliment. "At what? My cooking? You eat my things at the café every day."
"Yes, but this was…" Malfoy waved his hand a round in a twirly gesture. "So elaborate. And delicious."
"Thanks." So far the date had gone well. Neither of them had mentioned Snape, Gibbs, DiNozzo or the mess they were in, the fight had only been mentioned in passing and the insults they shared were more light hearted banter than anything else. "Would you like dessert?"
"I would."
Harry got up to get the pudding he'd prepared, but stopped as Malfoy grabbed his wrist. "What?"
"I wasn't exactly thinking about food." With that Malfoy pulled Harry closer until Harry had no chance but to sit on Malfoy's lap. He forgot all about how he was blushing, how he had thought he'd be the first to initiate something, when Malfoy's lips touched his. Somehow his arms wound up around Malfoy's neck and he parted his lips, their kiss turning from gentle to passionate.
"Now that, Potter, is what I call a real talent." Malfoy leaned his forehead against Harry's and chuckled.
"Harry."
"Huh?"
"Call me Harry." Harry bent down to kiss Malfoy – Draco – again. "Let's go sit on the couch." Harry pulled Draco, who was flushed and smiling, up and into the living room, but they didn't exactly spend the rest their evening sitting…
Snape looked at his pocket watch and frowned.
"Do you want us to leave?" Tony asked and glanced at his own watch. It was already past midnight, but Harry hadn't called or given him any sign that it was okay to come back over. Did he really want to go over to Harry's place already? After all, he didn't want to throw a guy off his game.
"No. I expect Draco and Potter are shagging like wild monkeys by now, so you'll have to content yourselves with staying here." Snape cleared his throat and got up. "I, however, will retire now."
Gibbs snorted. "Yeah right. I can sleep about anywhere, but I won't share that lumpy small-ass couch with DiNozzo."
Snape pointed his wand quicker than Tony could jump up and Tony suddenly found himself sitting in the middle of a bed instead of on the couch.
"There. Problem solved," Snape said and left without saying any more Good-nights. Tony cleared his throat. One bed. One fucking queen-sized bed in which he and Gibbs would undoubtedly touch. Repeatedly. His body heated at the thought. He wasn't sure if he'd survive this night.
"Guess we should be thankful that he didn't make it a frilly bed," Tony said and put his glass on the floor before he flopped back into the pillows. The ceiling, he found, had a very interesting pattern of cracks in it. Maybe he should point that out to Snape in the morning.
The bed dipped as Gibbs sat down next to Tony.
"Say Boss?" Tony waited a couple of seconds until he knew that he had Gibbs' full attention. "Have you ever seen any of those old movies when the hero has his one true love right in front of him the whole time, but doesn't realize until the movie is nearly over and it's nearly too late?"
"Why?"
Gibbs question was more a grunt than anything else, but Tony understood it nevertheless. He wasn't quite ready to answer it, though, and continued: "You see, the hero's love is always there, right in front of his face, and has to wait around and see the hero with all these other women –"
"DiNozzo." Exasperation, maybe a little bit of trepidation, but mainly impatience. "Your point?"
"I'm not saying it's too late, Boss, but –"
"What do you want to say, Tony?"
Tony turned and looked Gibbs in the eyes. "Why have you never made a pass at me?" It took guts to ask this question – more than Tony had expected he had – but as he turned to look at Gibbs and found the man stunned, he discovered it had been worth it. Gibbs' face pulled into a frown and he parted his lips to protest, but Tony was too quick to let him. "Spare me the talk about Rule 12 and how you should mess around with your partner. You care about me. You're attracted to me." Tony sat up again and scooted closer. Before Gibbs could get out of the bed Tony put his hand on his. "You must be blind if you can't see that I feel the same. Have for years."
"Aw hell, Tony."
"And I'm not saying I'm your one true love. Maybe I'm not." Tony took a deep breath. "But I think we deserve a chance to find out." He looked back at the wall, giving Gibbs time to think and hating every passing second of it. After what seemed eons, Gibbs' squeezed his hand, gently.
"I do too."
Tony looked at the tourist guide in his hand and tried not to feel utterly ridiculous. It had been his idea to go disguised as tourists, so he couldn't complain no matter how much he wanted to. Usually when he went undercover in a different country he got to be someone cool. Cool wouldn't cut it, though, he knew. Not when they had to traipse through Edinburgh looking for an old-fashioned door in which the murderer's old fashioned key might fit.
Gibbs was silent at his side, leaning in every once in a while as if to peek at the map in Tony's hands, but really just taking the chance to brush against Tony. Tony was sure Gibbs knew how mad he was driving him with anticipation. They hadn't kissed yet, hadn't really done anything but fall asleep touching each other. But, God, how much he wanted Gibbs to shove him against the nearest wall, take his lips with a bruising kiss and then take him, right then and there.
A slap to the back of his head made Tony snap out of his fantasy again. He shot Gibbs, who looked only too amused not to know what was going on in Tony's head, a dark look, and continued to look for an old door in Edinburgh's old town. They'd decided looking in what Snape had called a 'Muggle district' might be the safest bet for them, as they might attract attention in the wizarding districts. Tony guessed that it wasn't those parts of town that they would find their killer in. After all, Harry had talked about the guy probably not using security measurements he called wards – something like that might attract the neighbors' attention. No, some house in a more inconspicuous area – at least to a wizard – might be where they might find him.
Gibbs bumped against Tony again. "Found anything yet?"
"No. You?" Tony waited for Gibbs to shake his head. "This is going to be a long day."
The chimes at the door announced new visitors and Harry looked up with a smile. Instead of seeing Draco, he found himself facing old Auror colleagues who looked exhausted.
"What can I get you?" he asked, still wearing his smile. He was glad DiNozzo was out today, as his presence would provoke unwelcome questions. They had briefly considered involving the Aurors, but Gibbs hadn't liked the idea of turning the case over to complete strangers. In fact they could count themselves lucky that no Auror had caught wind of two Muggles residing with him, what with them occasionally frequenting his café. After all, people, especially law enforcement, liked to shop, eat and drink where they knew people – and who did you know better than your old co-workers? Thankfully their headquarters weren't anywhere near to Velveteen Close and their business seldom took them here.
Harry took the Aurors' orders and went on about his business, preparing their take-away, all the while listening in on their conversation. That was another thing Aurors did – if you had been one of them they didn't bother to moderate their talk that much.
"I hear the scene was pretty gruesome. Was there mess like in that case with Yaxley?"
"No, nothing like that. In fact, there wasn't a drop of blood. That's just what made the murder so creepy."
"An Avada then?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
"Haven't had those in a while."
They stopped talking, memory probably taking them the same place as it took Harry – to Voldemort and the war. For a while the only thing that could be heard was the sputter of the coffee maker, then Harry broke the silence with a spell to grill a sandwich.
"You know what's really weird about the murder, though? There was a dead spider pinned to the guy's chest."
Harry's hands started trembling at that. Another murder. Their murderer had killed again.
"Pinned?"
If only he'd managed to beat the murderer in their duel. If only he hadn't been drinking that night. He could have prevented the whole thing.
"Yeah, with a knife. And underneath the spider was a note, saying 'It should have been you'."
The plate with the grilled sandwich slipped from Harry's hand and crashed on the floor.
Draco entered just as the Aurors left and his eyes immediately zoomed in on the cut on Harry's hand. "What happened?" His glance back at the Aurors told of his suspicions.
"Nothing. Just cut myself on some shards." Harry ran water over his bleeding hand, cursing under his breath and listening to Draco coming behind the counter.
"Give me that." Despite Draco's brusque words he took Harry's hand with surprising gentleness and dried it carefully. "Episkey." The wound slowly closed, leaving only a slight sting behind.
"Thanks." Harry pressed a shy kiss to the corner of Draco's mouth and blushed. All bad things he'd heard about were forgotten at once.
Draco glimpsed over his shoulder to check if there were any customers, but apart from Draco and the Aurors it was a slow morning. The door clicked as a locking spell fell into place. "Severus doesn't expect me back for a while. What about Gibbs and his hunky monkey?"
Harry snorted and shook his head. "They are trying to find the door and lock that fit to the key. Could take a couple of hours till they're back."
Draco grinned at that, whipped out his wand again and put a spell on the windows that Harry recognized as causing an illusion of an empty room. "You have no idea how long I've fantasised about fucking you over the counter."
Harry responded by pulling Draco close and kissing him hard. He was already half hard, his erection straining against his trousers, and he ground his body against Draco's. He had never wanted anyone more than he wanted Draco. His hand pushed under Draco's shirt, touching smooth skin, muscles pulled taut in anticipation. Draco gripped his arse, hard, making Harry moan low in his throat.
They broke the kiss and Harry let himself be pushed against the counter. Draco unbuttoned Harry's trousers and pushed them and Harry's boxer-briefs down in a smooth motion before pressing his crotch against Harry's arse.
Harry spread his legs as far as his trousers let him and ground back against Draco, causing them both to groan.
"Come on," Harry urged Draco and reached behind him, impatiently pulling him closer. Draco pressed a kiss to Harry's neck and hurriedly spelled lube on his fingers before pushing one into Harry. "Merlin, yes!" A second finger joined the first, moving in and out, spreading, twisting, and never failing to hit the spot. "Please! Don't make me wait!"
Draco's breath was hot on Harry's neck as he fumbled with his own trousers, his erection straining against the fabric and surely causing the lube to leave stains. Harry pushed his arse back to make him hurry up and bent over some more. Then another spell and Draco's lubed-up cock pressed against Harry's hole. Draco pushed in slowly, causing them both to tremble. Harry bit his lip at the burn, but urged Draco on. Slowly, Draco started moving. Harry's loud moan as he hit the spot made him speed up, his hips snapping back and forth, fucking Harry hard.
Draco's fingers pushed into Harry's mouth while his other hand was splayed out on Harry's stomach, pulling him closer with every movement. Harry held on to counter with all he got. Draco's pants pressed into Harry's flesh, but he barely noticed. The only thing mattering now was Draco's cock inside him.
Soon he felt the familiar tingle starting in his thighs, racing first down, then up his legs, and with a shout he came, his arse clenching around Draco and pulling him over the edge was well. Panting, they collapsed onto the counter, Draco pressing kisses to Harry's sweaty neck.
When Tony and Gibbs, and only moments later Snape, entered the café, the first thing he noticed about Harry and Draco looked thoroughly fucked – a fact that none of the other men seemed to miss. Tony didn't even try to keep himself from smirking and he gave them an only too obvious, knowing nod. It got him a head-slap from Gibbs, who snorted in amusement, but it was definitely worth it.
As soon as everyone had settled down, though, the mood changed immediately. Tension was thick in the air and Tony considered for a moment whether or not he should mimic cutting it with the tiny knife Harry had given him with his sandwich, but decided that the head-slap that would sure as hell follow would not be one of the good kind. He kept his hands busy with the sandwich instead.
"Did you find the door?" Snape asked. He hadn't even touched his tea yet.
Gibbs nodded, but it was Tony who answered: "We did. It's not that far from here, but quite hidden in Baron Maule's Close." There were so many tiny, hidden streets in Edinburgh that Tony wondered why there weren't more robberies and assaults happening. At least Scotland didn't have a gun culture – knives were far more popular and, if seen early enough, something both he and Gibbs could deal with. "The house looked abandoned though."
"Simple trick. An illusion that is easy enough to manage. What's surprising is that you didn't feel the need to visit the doctor or check if you've left the stove on," Blondie commented and leaned back in the chair.
Tony looked at Harry for an explanation. "There are charms that can repel Muggles. They are often used by the magical community – it's easier than erasing someone's memory."
"I'm not sure if I really wanted to know that," Tony mumbled and shook himself. No matter how nice wizards were, they could be damn creepy.
"Anything else?" Snape asked while stirring his tea with a face that spoke of clear disdain.
Harry's face suddenly turned ashen. "There's something. There were Aurors in here earlier and they talked about a new case. Someone was killed with exactly the same MO as our previous victims – only that this one had a note pinned to his chest. It was a message, to me."
The discussion following Harry's revelation was surprisingly unanimous. It was heated, nonetheless, with Harry wanting to charge in as soon as possible, to which DiNozzo and Gibbs agreed, while Draco and Snape cautioned them.
"But we can't sit around and do nothing!" Harry cried and paced around the café.
"No one is asking you to. All that we're saying is that we shouldn't go in half-cocked! We need to have a plan!" Draco pushed Harry back into a chair. "Now if you would stop moaning and beating yourself up about something that you couldn't have changed, we could maybe talk about that."
Harry blinked at Draco and nodded. How had he never noticed before how well Draco knew him?
"Good. Now, we all agree that we have to do something. Does anyone think we shouldn't do it tonight?" No one even twitched and Draco gave a satisfied nod. "At least we agree on that. Now, what do we know about this place? For I will surely not bust into some building before I know whether or not a bloody madman is inside and if he has laid any traps for us."
"We can't discard the idea of traps, but as Potter and DiNozzo pointed out before, the likelihood of there being wards, especially seeing at there weren't any Muggle repellents, is quite low." Snape flicked his wand and banished the tea in front of him, then waved his empty cup towards Harry. With a sigh, knowing Snape would only get cranky without an infusion of tea, Harry got up to make some more. "A trap would be a preferable plan. Better than to charge the man head on, as we know what happened last time someone tried that." A sideways-glance to Harry. Memories of the fight fizzed through Harry's mind until he was pulled back by DiNozzo's follow-up question.
"Is there any way we can find out whether our guy is inside?" DiNozzo helped himself to another sandwich. That man's stomach was a bottomless pit, just like Ron's. Harry wondered briefly why neither of them seemed to put on any weight. He himself had had to watch his intake of food – while he had been a waif in his youth and still looked quite the runt, he noted there was a certain softness to his hips these days.
"I guess the usual observation techniques won't cut it," Gibbs butted in. The man was quiet in general and Harry could easily picture him lying in wait in front of a perp's house. DiNozzo had told him stories about Gibbs' legendary abilities as a sniper, even though Harry had problems merging the impatient man who was out to get their murderer with someone who had the patience to lie in wait, not moving for hours. "Any spells that could help?"
"Nothing to find out where the guy is – after all I would have done that before, had I been able to. You can do it, but you need something of the guy, a hair, or … well. Something." Harry brought Snape his tea, who took it without comment or thanks. "But I could cast something to see if a wizard is close by."
"No way!" Draco crossed his arms in front of his chest and glowered at him.
"Why the hell not?!" was Gibbs' angry shout. Impatient again.
Snape stretched out his legs and sniffed the tea. "Because Draco and I would have to be away from Potter. Otherwise he'd get confused by our auras." It sounded like a bad joke, but it was true, unfortunately. "And he needs to be close to the house. Or in it. The spell only has a certain, short range."
Harry gave Draco a pleading look. "There's no other chance. Otherwise all of us will be put in danger."
Draco snorted and looked away. "Why do you always have to play the hero, Potter?"
And there it was again – last name basis. Harry decided to push that into the back of his mind for now. He had something more important to focus on for now. He could only hope Draco would forgive him this bit recklessness.
Tony wasn't happy about Harry playing bait and just like Gibbs he would have protested the suggestion, had they not known that there wasn't any other way for this to go down. Blondie was hiding with Gibbs in front of the building and he and Snape scoped out the back of it. Tony would have been happier if he could have been with Gibbs, but Gibbs trusted Snape and Snape trusted Blondie, so he had no choice but to be okay with the arrangement. And really, doing this without a wizard at his side would just get him killed.
He wished he could see Harry going in, at least know something about what was going on, but Tony had to prove his own patience for once. But he wasn't a Very Special Agent for nothing, so he shut his mouth, saved all the movie references for later (Gibbs was more likely to get them anyway), and waited.
Harry entered the house slowly, carefully. His techniques had changed a lot since the war. Gone was the rashness that had nearly gotten him killed during his time as an Auror. Oh, he was still very much the Gryffindor – after all he wouldn't enter a murderer's house all on his own if he wasn't – but there was a certain amount of carefulness that came with the conclusion that he'd been too close to death too many times. At one point, he knew, his nine lives – or however many had been granted to him – would be gone, along with his luck.
The house lay in stillness, dust everywhere, at least on the ground floor. It didn't look like the bloke had been down here at all, but Harry knew that first impressions could be deceiving. He cast a wordless detection spell, but nothing showed. No curse, no traps, not down here. He exhaled, stood up straighter and cast the charm to find out whether there was another wizard around. Nothing.
Harry moved through the ground floor as quietly as possible. In some way the house reminded him of Grimmauld Place – old, dusty, and evidence for how wealthy old wizard families could be. Because this clearly had been the residence of old blood wizards and witches. Pictures were hanging on the walls, their occupants blurred by dirt and dust and moving about sluggishly, as if the years of inattention had let them forget that they were supposed to do more than hang on walls.
He moved up the stairs, checking for both traps and the murderer again, and again coming up empty. To the right lay the sitting room. A tapestry was covering the wall; just like there had been one with the family tree in Grimmauld Place, there was one here. Harry looked up and found the name Comyn adorning the tree. He followed the line of direct descendants to the last name charmed on the tapestry. Xerxes. Maybe that was their guy's name. Harry tried the name out loud. "Xerxes."
The flash made the night light up. Tony flinched and only then registered the thunder that was following. Thrown for only a moment, he rallied forwards, towards the house, towards the noise. He heard someone shouting, but wasn't sure whether it was himself or Snape. A black blur at his side told him Snape was running, too. Running towards what, Tony didn't know. He threw himself against the door, but it didn't budge.
"Move!"
Tony jumped aside just before the door practically exploded. He ran after Snape. Familiar footsteps. Gibbs was there too. Panic in Blondie's face as they bounded up the stairs, towards light and noise and terror.
The first thing he saw was Harry on unsteady legs standing in the middle of the living room, wand drawn. Tony followed the line of the wand towards the attacker – and crashed to the floor as Gibbs pulled him down. A spell – hot, dangerous – whizzed over him, right where he had been standing.
"Stay down." Gibbs breath sounded harsh to his ears, all too clear and real when everything else seemed like it had stepped out of a nightmare. He didn't loosen his grip on Tony's arm and Tony didn't want him to.
Snape and Blondie rushed to Harry's aid, pointing their wands, Snape casting a spell before he'd even come to a stop. The light of the spell hit the perp full on, but he was laughing, cackling, like it had been nothing. Tony's hand went to his side, where he usually had his gun in his holster, but of course there wasn't anything there. So he clutched his knife instead, a feeble hope that would probably do him no good against this monster.
The perp was still laughing as Harry and the other began to fire spells at him, their colors breaking the dusty darkness of the room. The spells were dodged, repelled, and they began to move as if in a macabre dance.
Harry cried out as something grazed his leg, making it spell and ooze immediately, but he kept on going. Gibbs' grip tightened and Tony looked at him. "We have to –" he started and Gibbs nodded – nodded at the perp and how he held his left arm. A dim memory of the alley behind the pub and Harry's final spell hitting the guy hard came to Tony and his eyes widened in realization. A weak spot. If only they could –
A spell raced towards them and they rolled apart, the spell leaving stink and heat behind.
Harry dragged his injured leg behind himself and reflected the next spell as quick as he could. This would not go over well, not when Xerxes could counter all of their spells, not if he continued with the speed he was casting in.
There was a crash to his left and he whirled around in panic, expecting to see DiNozzo's and Gibbs' bloodied bodies. They were gone. He cast another Petrificus Totalus at Xerxes, this time enough to make him stumble a bit. There was no time to think. Another crash – this time from a vase smashing against Xerxes' shield.
"What the –"
Xerxes let out an animal-like yell and threw himself towards DiNozzo, who had thrown the vase, picked him up by the neck and lifted him as if he was nothing but a doll. With near professional precision Gibbs tackled Xerxes, catching him off guard. But Xerxes, still holding DiNozzo, only staggered and sent Gibbs flying against the wall.
Something in the back of Harry's head was screaming "NOW!" and he cast the strongest Expelliarmus he could manage, at the same time seeing red and green spells flying towards Xerxes from Draco's and Snape wands.
With a wail that was cut short, Xerxes crumpled and lay still. DiNozzo was coughing and pressing his hands to his neck. Harry had his wand still pointed at Xerxes.
"Is it over?" He barely trusted his voice. DiNozzo looked down at Xerxes, then kicked him hard. Xerxes didn't even give a twitch. Slowly, DiNozzo staggered to get up, then kicked him again, this time right in the groin.
Snape gave an exhausted snort. "Seems like it is." And with that Harry let himself sink to the ground. Draco started healing Harry's leg, claiming that he would need a couple of potions from the shop to heal it completely, while Snape, just to make completely certain, bound Xerxes' body with thick ropes. Gibbs was propped up against the wall he had crashed into and fussed over by DiNozzo, who seemed mostly fine.
Those two, Harry found, would have been ideal candidates for Gryffindor. So reckless they came close to stupidity, but they certainly got the job done.
A check through the house revealed more of Xerxes Comyn's story. There were family pictures with him as boy up until his fourth year in Hogwarts. After that there were no pictures, nothing that bore witness to the life of him or his family. Snape found the bones of the parents in an upstairs bedroom. It seemed as though they had been killed in their sleep.
Gibbs checked Xerxes body for anything that could be of interest. He found five dead spiders, the key that had led them to this house and a Dark Mark on Xerxes arm.
"He was a Death Eater?" Harry looked at Snape and Draco with wide eyes, but they only shook their heads.
"I never heard of him and I've never seen his face until now," Snape said, frowning.
"He must have been recruited early then. A secret weapon, maybe? The Dark Lord wasn't exactly known for his sanity." Harry let Draco help him up and leaned on him. His leg felt numb, thank Merlin.
"No, I sincerely doubt that." Snape looked at the Dark Mark, then turned the body slightly and lifted the robe. "Torture marks. From potions and spells and from instruments." He let go of body and robe and took a couple of steps back. "Seems like he was one of the Dark Lords early experiments. He obviously was successful in driving him mad and turning him into a murderous machine, but I suspect he lost control of this one early on."
"Not that the Dark Lord minded when people got killed," Draco muttered. "I bet he enjoyed it."
"Possibly." Snape lifted his wand and pointed it. "Best to make sure he doesn't bother us again. Incendio!"
They watched the body burn away to cinders, the fire amplified by magic. When the last flame died and the ashes were spelled away, they gave a collective sigh, weariness now bearing heavy on them.
"I need a drink," Gibbs said and Snape nodded emphatically. It was the last time Harry would see the house.
"Are you sure you have to leave? Can't you stay a bit longer?" Harry said and looked truly regretful that Tony and Gibbs were leaving. Well. Possibly more regretful about Tony heading back home than about Gibbs, but then again it had been Tony who had been giving him (very successful) dating advice.
"Yeah, our team's waiting for us. Besides, they are probably pissed off like hell – we haven't exactly kept in contact with them since we arrived."
"They're used to it," Gibbs grunted from near the wall, where he was standing in perfect marine posture.
"From you maybe, Boss, but not from me. And even that has never stopped them from being mad." Gibbs only snorted, but that was answer enough with the man anyway. Tony had gotten more than he had hoped for during the trip. They had managed to catch the bad guy and he had managed to get his guy.
The taxi they had called to take them to the airport stopped next to them on the street. "Well, this is good-bye then."
"You can come visit any time," Harry said and shook his hand. " And thanks for everything."
"No, thank you. After all, we disrupted your routine. Tore Dorothy from Kansas." Tony laughed as Harry punched him in the shoulder. "You should visit D.C. sometime. If you do, give me a call." He had already made sure to leave his address and number at Harry's apartment.
"Blondie."
"DiNozzo."
They shook hands, respectful – well, Tony wore a lewd smirk and wiggled his eyebrows at Blondie and Harry. He nodded at Snape, seemed to prefer it that way. Grinning broadly, Tony then went over to Gibbs, who had just finished his good-byes, and took Gibbs' hand in his. He grinned even more at Gibbs' scowl and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Can't tell me not to do it because someone could see, because there's no one here who knows us apart from these three, and they already know everything there is to know."
Gibbs snorted and shook his head. "I'm not saying any of that."
"You aren't?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean you won't, either?"
"Work's work, Tony, but in private…" Gibbs shrugged and that was enough for Tony. He pulled Gibbs close and kissed him – tongues touching, hands on butt, and everything – and ignored the cat-calls from Harry and Blondie. He knew he could keep things separate – had done that for years, could function even when head over heels, Audrey Hepburn-like in love. He had Gibbs for good now. Life was fucking good. (And possibly full of good fucking.)
They got into the taxi and Tony enthusiastically waved as the car pulled away.
"Goodbye Edinburgh," Tony said and took Gibbs' hand again. "And just so you know, once we're back home we'll christen ever single room in your house. And my apartment."
"Anything else?"
"Well, I don't know if we can get away with MTAC or the bullpen –" The expected head-slap made him laugh. Yes, life was good.
