Whose Universe Are We In?

19

“That’s wonderful”, was Alan’s opinion when Dan rushed back into their quarters with the news, “Now you can leave a message with her, say something that only you and she will know so she knows to whom she speaks and that it really is her brother speaking to her, then simply ask her to make the ending of the tale a satisfactory one all round, say have Voldemort dying of a stroke, say, or ‘flu”.

Dumbfounded, Dan could only gape as he thought this through then grinned, coming back to himself, “Bloody hell, yeah. Make it all end well. Shit. I should get onto her, but, hang on...She’s mourned for me, she thinks I’m dead”. Alan murmured, “I think this story is perhaps her way of knowing that you aren’t. Oh, and as to the possession of magic? I reckon your sister is also one such; she knows all the spells and so on”.

Dan grinned, “Remind me to show you a few of these stories sometime. They expand cheerfully on the canon, i.e., the Witch’s work, and they all use each other’s spells and so forth and most of their Latin is even worse than the Witch’s”. Alan smirked, “Ah, yes, but do they not teach Latin here?”

Dan made a face, “No, I’ve never heard it mentioned but the kids here seem to learn it by osmosis ‘cos of rituals and cast magic but they don’t actually speak it or write in it and the Witch’s Latin has been denounced severally by muggle scholars steeped in that sort of thing since her books came out but, yeah, most of these slash-writer girlies borrow each other’s spells freely, like the ‘clean-up-after-sex’ spells, they’re such Puritans”.

Sniggering now, Alan remarked, “Well, it’s not so bad to give yourself a cum wax job having to peel your pubes off the sheets etc., keeps the garden tidy, and anyway, sometimes a man is just too tired and sated”, then laughed as Dan did too, then said, “No, I don’t think I want to read these puerile offerings from the adolescent female mind, thank you very much but I’d really love it if we could download some...er...action films”.

Still giggling, Dan said, “Er action? What’s ‘er action’?” Alan rolled his eyes, “Porn, dolt, pornography, rude stuff”, and Dan collapsed laughing, “Fuck, Alan, ‘er action’ indeed!! What are you like?”, and rolled around in fits.

When he sobered he sat up again and faced his lover on the couch, “Yeah, okay, we’ll download a bit of porn, I know a great website. I was just a bit reluctant, you know, in case my charms wear off or something, I mean, there are kids here. Anyway, what sort do you fancy? Piss? Fisting? Dungeons?”

Alan blushed at this and had to look away, staring off into the middle distance, “Those are a little hardcore for my tastes, love, though a few of those wouldn’t go amiss, I don’t doubt, but I’d rather some beautiful boys sucking each other off and fucking, nothing too extreme, particularly as I have my own beautiful boy to suck as I watch”. Dan flushed back and said, “Ah. Oh, that’s nice. I mean, I’m not actually that into real hardcore stuff though some of it has been a bit of a surprise”.

“A surprise? How?”, Alan purred, placing his arm around his lover. Dan smiled and moved closer, “Well, I have to admit that I found one of the piss DVD’s mega-hot. There’s this ginormous muscle Mary type, okay? He walks out onto a makeshift stage. He’s in a vest and really light-coloured jeans, very tight, shows off his enormous dick to perfection. He fluffs himself half-hard in his pants and then just sort of stands there”, and Dan shuddered still at the memory that didn’t go unnoticed by Alan, “then he, oh gods, he, there’s a wet patch, a dark patch on these almost washed white jeans....it gets bigger...this great big guy is just standing there and pissing his pants with this huge dick. The whole scene lasts under a minute and it’s the hottest thing I ever saw, and I’m so not into muscle Mary types, not even a little bit”.

This was a bit of a surprise to Alan too, as he’d felt his cock twitch at the very idea. Hmm, this was deep water indeed. He kissed Dan’s temple, “And the other two categories? What was it? Fisting and dungeons? My, what a selection”. Dan head-butted him gently, “Behave, I was only sort of showing off. I don’t fancy dungeon stuff much really and fisting just looks painful. It’s Tom who’s got the hardcore stuff”, he chuckled at this admission and Alan joined in, “So that’s why you were falling for him, eh? For his prodigious pornography collection?”

Shaking his head ruefully, Dan murmured, “No but he shone his lights on me and, like all the other saps that he’s done the same thing to, I fell, hook line and sinker. He’s quite hard to resist when he decides that you are the next conquest in his sights and I think he likes to leave his latest in a mess, crying over him while he’s already buttering up the next one. God, I should hate him but I don’t. That’s just the way he is”.

Rolling his eyes, Alan muttered, “The loveable rogue type, eh?”, and Dan nodded, “Yeah, so not my type any more. I think I’m into older, dark and brooding with a soupcon of danger and a little intellectual spice for warmth, plus integrity, fidelity and a whole lot of love and I am one happy man, not having to check out every ten seconds who you’re chatting up now. Yeah, I like your type, Alan. I love your type. I love you”, and reaching up, he pulled Alan to him and kissed him deeply

Heat was building between them but Alan gently parted them, “Not just now, Danny, my love, you need to get back and write to her. This needs to be done soon. We also need to check out the latest episodes, see if she has posted again since the last time. There are now a mere two weeks until the critical time and we need to know what happens next, maybe even get her to change her story”.

Dan nodded, “We need to know also when story elements become ‘active’, so to speak. Is it when she thinks of them? Writes them? Or publishes them?” On that note, they left their quarters once again for the now-familiar trek across the castle. They strolled in the heat that had even seeped inside this enormous stone edifice though they knew it was cooler than outside.

The school was quiet until they heard a rhythmic shouting and the thudding of feet coming from one of the many empty classrooms that dotted the place. Squinting through the keyhole, Alan saw various members of the Order trying to work out in the restricted space. They all needed somewhere bigger and he thought of the luxurious space that he and Dan hogged, at his insistence, and did feel a pang of guilt then, spying on his ‘colleagues’ too crushed for space but quashed the feeling, knowing exactly the level of imposition that revealing the Room would invite.

They needed to find this other Room – more to the point, they needed to find the way in. Alan let this occupy his thoughts on the journey. As they approached the tower it was Dan who broke the easy quiet between them, “Shall we have a quick look, then? You know, to see if we can find an entrance?” Alan grinned in the half-dark and said, “We can but try. I think we have to be several floors below this, though”.

It took them a while just to find the continuation of the stairs before they figured out that they had to lead from somewhere inside the ground floor room. Both of them had to tap severally on the curved inner wall before an entrance opened up for them. They glanced at each other. Dan held the Map in one hand. With the other, his wand up his sleeve again, he Transfigured a small pebble into a door wedge, holding the heavy portal open while Alan lit his wand, throwing a strong light into the stairwell curving out of sight into the blackness before them. This time Dan suspected that they would be going deeper than their Room. . Dan flicked out his wand again as Alan kept a light glowing. Setting foot upon the stairs they started to descend.

They were aware of passing at least three floors on the way down if the way the air freshened and the dark expanded to their right was anything to go by, beyond the stairwell, neither could see into the space and for now, neither investigated just kept focussed on the journey down.

They came to another door and another dead end, spelling the door open and rushing across the completely bare, circular room but this time the next set of steps were open to the room and carried on in the opposite direction around the edge of the tower but downwards, ever downwards. Nervous about letting doors close, Dan once again found a piece of debris and turned it into a door wedge, he didn’t want to get stuck down here when no-one had a clue where they were. He whispered, “Perhaps we should have told someone, you know.....God knows what might be down here”, and slipped the small wedge under the door.

Alan’s whisper was lighter, “We’re only recce-ing, Dan. I think we need others down here to really find the place, or, like you say, at least inform someone of our....hold on, what’s this?” By now they had descended another layer only this time a straight path led once again to the other side of the tower. There were two doors facing each other on either side of the bisecting corridor.

On either door were bright pink Post-it notes.

From Hermione. Her and Ron had got down at least this far. Explained why none of the doors creaked, they reeked of recent magic. Dan wondered how he knew that and smiled even while he leaned in to inspect the notes. On the door to the left it read simply, “Empty” and on the door to the right the little pink note said, “Hogwarts test Boggart residing within. Leave it alone. It was the one me, Ron and Harry had to face in third year. They keep it in here”. As if to back up her statement, dull thumps were heard against the door that made them both start and rear back.

Glancing at each other in the yellow light, they both smiled, recalling the fact that Alan had had to act in old-lady drag that film and the fun he had had doing it. Smiling, he left the door alone and they pressed on. The corridor came to an abrupt end. By Dan’s calculations they needed to be at least another four floors down and they had reached a dead end with yet another of Hermione’s Post-it notes fluttering slightly in the breeze they made as they approached, faced once again by an implacable, impassable stone wall.

Dan unstuck the note. It simply said, ‘This was as far as we could get” and was initialled by the bushy haired girl and her best friend. Dan turned to Alan and kissed him briefly, “It’s another change in direction”, he murmured. Alan smiled and kissed him back, all tongue and fervour, “Indeed”, he rumbled as they drew apart, gasping lightly, “This seems to be the design of the original architects. Shall we see if we can progress further or shall we resume our original mission?”

Dan opted for the latter and they called off the search for now, both of them, would either of them admit it, were actually quite frightened this deep into the bowels of the castle, at least without backup of some sort. Dan murmured, “We’ll come back, with others who know where we are. I don’t want to go any further without backup”. Alan kissed him for this and whispered his agreement then tongued Dan’s earlobe, making his younger lover melt against him in the near-dark.

Huffing out a laugh, Dan moaned, “Not here, babe, the magic’s too strong....I’ll fucking drown. I’ll be eaten up and spat out. Not here...please...I want you so much right now”, and to emphasise his point, Dan pressed his lower body against that of his lover who could feel how hard the lad was. He paid heed to the entreaties and backed off, leading Dan back up the dark stairs, catching him when he stumbled and holding him when he faltered until they were back on familiar ground whereupon he pressed his Danny into a convenient wall and snogged the breath from him.

Dan whispered against Alan’s mouth, “We need to find out, love....we need to know”, but Alan silenced him with heated kisses and the wisdom of his years. “We will, Danny, we will. We are essential to this coming fight, particularly as I am now branded a traitor along with ‘the Malfoy boy’. He will seek us out and soon. We cannot hide behind grandma’s skirts for much longer. While we still remain in a free state....would you....Daniel Radcliffe, consent to formally bond with me?”

Dan thrust his hands into his own hair, utterly speechless. He tried and failed several times to actually say something. It was as if a hex had got his tongue and every utterance was mindless babble until one word stood free and clear. YES. And that is what Dan said, his face all flushed, his mouth looking all kissed and his head moving slowly up and down. “Yes”, he said again in an altogether quieter tone of voice. Alan grinned this time and was leapt upon by several stone of randy....fiance? Yes, fiance. He had asked Dan and Dan had accepted, simple as that. They kissed like wild things for a moment then stilled to quieter and deeper kisses that made them both make sounds deep in their throats.

There was a squeak from somewhere to Alan’s left/Dan’s right that made them both stand straight and realise where they were – in the side passage leading to the dungeons. There were a couple of high pitched giggles and the sound of light feet running away. Two girls, possibly three. Who had seen them kissing. Dan shrugged, he’d been close to Alan all the time, to the point of the headmaster having to invent these spurious apprenticeships to get around ‘Harry’ and ‘Severus’ living together in plain sight.

Right now, he was so in love he couldn’t give a toss who saw them but he sobered as Alan stiffened in his arms, “Damn, no time to catch the little buggers and Obliviate ‘em”, the older man growled, tearing his mouth from the lips of his lover, glaring off in the direction in which the girls had fled, no doubt to spread their gossip.

Gently, Dan pulled Alan down to him and kissed him again, this time all warmth and permanence, a message saying, “I am yours”, with those lush, kiss-bitten lips that Alan bit even more as the night deepened around them, claiming them for his own until he curled in on himself, cursing roundly, “Bugger, we forgot to update tonight”, he murmured softly until Dan looked into his eyes, his own green darkening almost to brown, “Don’t worry about it. Whatever happens, we’ll live through it”, Dan said breezily but a weight settled in is gut. At some time he knew he was going to have to speak to his sister and the thought really frightened him – enough for him to curl up small in Alan’s arms before he slept that night.

****

It was the following day after breakfast that Dan had the idea. Even if it meant contacting his sister sooner than he’d like, he had to: that way he could stop her killing him in the fiction which had an uncanny way of becoming fact, that way, Alan and he would be safe. The idea warmed him to his core. He smiled over his paper as he heard Alan’s off-key singing in the shower and decided to join him.

Some time later, they ventured out in muggle vests and long shorts into the grounds, Dan had his mobile with him. He had tried to get a signal in the castle but could only by dint of almost falling from the window so, armed with the number from the email and figuring Chrissie to be out shopping with her mates, he decided now was a good time to call her.

She answered on the third ring, “Yeah?”, was her reply, “Who is this? I don’t know your number”. Dan just breathed for a moment, quite overcome at hearing his sister’s voice. He anxiously bit his top lip, rolling it between his teeth, then said, “It’s me, ratbag fartbox, it’s me”, in a small voice.

There was a gasp at the other end of the line then a sniffle, “Bastard gitfiend?”, she sniffed, her voice climbing higher on the scale, “Oh my God, is it really you? Oh fuck, I knew you weren’t dead. I need to get out of here, gitfiend, I’m with the girls. Gimme a minute and I’ll call you back, yeah? Love you. Don’t go away”, and the line went dead.

“Ratbag fartbox?!!” Alan almost exploded with laughter. Dan punched his arm, “Just names, she calls me ‘bastard gitfiend’, we’ve fought and loved each other for years. Mine was one of those wonderfully functional families. Probably a bit sick-making, but true. I love ‘em, okay? And I am glad that she knows I’m here. I wonder if I can see her, you know, in London or somewhere”.

Alan was prevented from replying when the phone in Dan’s hand trilled and his lover pressed the green button and snatched it to his ear, “Chris?” “Yo, bro. Fuck, it’s good to hear you. I’ve not told anyone since I rang off, just had business to take care of. I can talk now. Where are you and when are you coming home?”

Dan was deep in thought a moment, so long that he heard his sister say, “Are you still there, Danny?” He nodded and when he realised she couldn’t see it, he croaked, “Yeah. I’m here. Listen Chris, it’s a bit weird okay? Basically, I’m stuck in your story, the story you’re writing on the Internet, only it’s not Harry Potter, it’s me, just as you’re writing it”.

It was her turn to be silent down the line and Dan had to glance at his phone a time or two to see that she was still with him. Eventually she said in a small voice, “So it really was Harry that was buried, wasn’t it?” Dan sighed deeply, “Yeah, and Snape. They were doing this time magic stuff, just like you wrote but hell, you know the story, you’re writing it. Can you give me, no, us, a good ending, sis?”

There was a cough at the other end as she cleared her throat and her voice was smaller still, “It’s not me, Dan, it’s that girl down the street, the chav chick that, erm, bullies us all, only with me, with you gone, she comes in at night and uploads her stories using my Internet accounts, spends bloody hours online then nicks my laptop ‘cos that’s where she stores her stories. I miss you, Dan. You used to sort her out for me. I miss you around telling me stories. Fuck Danny, come home”, by now she was weeping.

Dan squeezed his wet eyes shut and paced around, “Shit, babe, I can’t. I’m stuck here at Hogwarts. I’m in a different dimension”. There was a wail at the other end, “I know, but it’s only a story. It’s not supposed to come true!”, she shouted down the line. Dan had to hold the phone away a moment, “Well, me either, but it did and we’re here so it means we probably can’t meet out there in the world. It feels like a different but parallel universe. Still”, he glanced at Alan by his side, “there are compensations”.

That’s when they heard the eldritch squeal of the besotted fangirl, “OhMyGod, so it’s real, you really are in love with a twenty years younger Alan Rickman? You’ve followed the story that closely?” Dan rolled his eyes and said, “Um, yeah, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Listen, Chris, there’s one thing you can do for me if you would?”

“Yeah? What?”, the reply was friendly but blunt. Dan sighed, “Could you try and locate Draco Malfoy? He didn’t die. We’ve sort of kept an eye on the news and he hasn’t featured so....”, she interrupted him, “Oh, shit, I didn’t know about that, she just talked about Snape and Harry and this story. Actually she’s not so bad when she’s here sometimes and I thought her stories were ace”

Dan shook his head at this volte-face and had to hold the phone away at her squeal, “You mean Draco Malfoy is loose somewhere in this universe? Cooool. Yeah, I’ll try to find him. Any ideas as to where to start?” Dan had to admit to having none for now but he’d get back to her on that. They ended the call sniffling their ‘I love you’s and ‘I miss you’s and sworn to secrecy, Chrissie ended the call. Dan slumped with the phone held slack in his hands.

“It’s not her”. He said simply, “It’s the local bully, can you believe that? I’m not there to look after her. That chav bitch is walking all over her and our fucking lives are in her hands. Alan, we are so fucked. She hates me”.

Despite the fact that they were in plain view of the castle, Alan took Dan in his arms and held him, letting his lover cry it out on his shoulder then he said, “Dan, there is another way, you know”. Puzzled, Dan looked up. Alan smiled, “We simply ignore all further updates of the story”. Dan blinked, “Will that make any difference?” Alan shrugged, “No idea, but it’s worth a try. We cannot allow ourselves to be bested by bullies after all. Isn’t that whom we’re here to fight?”

This seemed to take all the ire from Dan’s shoulders and he slumped against Alan who tightened his arms around his Danny, who nodded against that warm barrel chest, “Yeah. Can I still call Chris, though?” Alan kissed Dan’s hair, “Don’t be daft, man, she’s your sister. You need the anchor of family at a time like this. Just try not to get too embroiled in discussions of the story. Remember, we don’t want to know. Hmmm, it may be interesting afterwards to compare the two, our real story and the fictional, and where they diverge: interesting”, and Alan drifted off a little, lost in the possibilities until he was brought back by Dan shifting slightly closer and arms wrapping around him.

Out there in the hot sun, Alan felt closer to Dan than he ever had, just drinking in the sun-warmed smell of the man and they just stood there for the longest time, pressing closer and closer, in no way erotically, but just with such affection until they both swayed in danger of pushing each other over then they laughed aloud at everything: the absurdity of their situation: their love for each other and the strange, incredibly pleased feeling that lodged itself under their ribs on this glorious day. They caught each other’s long slow gaze, making up their minds as to whether or not to kiss in such a public place.

****

Minerva, in her high eyrie spluttered, “They aren’t, Filius, they just can’t!” The small man, perched atop a high stool with a perfect view of the goings-on outside, said with a sigh, “Think so, Minnie, I’ll bet you a Galleon that they do, right there”. Minerva snorted, “I hope that decorum rules the day, and, Filius, you know I am not a gambler and I rather hope that they do not”, she finished emphatically, although she still had an Omniocular trained their way.

****

High up in Gryffindor tower, the now ex-head girl stood out on the tiny balcony that led off her room. Arms resting on the parapet, her naked breasts crushed slightly by them, she stood bent at the waist, her legs parted, waiting and watching the scenario below. A voice called out from the room behind her, “Where’s the number nine, love? Have they snogged yet?” Hermione called back, “It’s under the bed, from, er, last time. No, but Dan’s got his head tipped back and, fuck, hurry up, he’s closing his eyes. Come oooon, I want you to be fucking me when it happens”. The voice was by her ear as it breathed, “You are such a fucking pervert, Granger. Now take this”, and the bushy-haired witch shrieked as dildo number nine was thrust unceremoniously into her at just the very moment when....

****

Ron opened his eyes as the tongue dragged from his mouth, leaving a wet trail across his cheek, “Oi, come back here...”, he protested, to have his head twisted around by his lover, “No, wait, watch. Potter and Snape are about to snog. Gotta see this...”, and Ron’s head turned, following his lover’s eyes to where the two lovers stood twined in each other’s arms. He could see Dan’s eyes closed and his head tilted, Alan descending, his own lips parting and Ron breathed in deep, “Yeah”, he sighed as the small gap between Alan and Dan closed, the look between them intensifying.

But he took his eye off the ball, so to speak, and glanced at the young man beside him, whose face was all flushed from their recent snog-fest, and smiled at the naked passion he could see, even if his beloved was gawping at someone else. Grinning, he nudged him, “Oi, Zabini, come back to me”, and using his superior height and weight, he wrestled his lover flat on the grass and, laughing, kissed him again. They forgot all about the other two.

****

Alan brought his mouth so close to Dan’s and whispered, “You want me to kiss you or perform for the masses out here?” Dan groaned and closed his eyes, “You, you git. Always you. It’s weird in a way. I know I never felt like this before but, fuck, Alan, I fucking ache for you. All the time. And right now, I don’t give a flying fuck where we are, I just need....oh, damn”, he stopped short.

He could feel Alan’s smirk against his hair, “Okay, we have an audience, let’s take this elsewhere. Shall we step into the staff garden, my love, for I have no wish to go indoors just yet?” He could feel the huff of a laugh on his scalp, “Indeed we might, Mr Radcliffe. Let us depart this tawdry scene”, and this made Dan laugh aloud and they pulled apart.

The sighs of disappointment could be heard all over the castle.

****

“You mean they didn’t...?”, came a high-pitched squeak on the verge of orgasm then backing away from it as the fantasy faded. The fucking of the dildo slowed, “Nah, ‘fraid not. They’ve buggered off. Shame. Still, Remus Lupin and his bum-boy seem to be hotting up over there by the lake shore. Will that do?”

Hermione pushed back on the thick intrusion, her insides singing, bursting to explode, “Yeah, all right, tell me Susie but just fuck me, okay? Just fuck me. I’m so fucking close”. Susie Bones leaned down and nipped Hermione’s neck before viciously shoving the dildo in, “Yeah, baby, I know how you like it”, and thrust again, pleased to see her lover break a sweat all along her back before starting to slam in and out whilst describing the scene, that of Tom tongue-wrestling with Remus Lupin down on the east lawn, “And it looks as if trousers are getting awfully tight”. At this, Hermione howled and came.

****

They ensconced themselves in one of the side arbours in the garden and were left alone. Alan transfigured them a large lounger and a shady parasol and they lay down together, side by side, holding hands, recovering from the fierce heat. Alan summoned Dobby and asked for cold drinks and snacks and they were soon served with far too much as usual all placed under expert cooling charms.

They didn’t rise for a moment, both staring up into the ribs of the parasol then Alan spoke softly, “You know, we could always co-opt the story you know. I mean post our own chapters to the site, or isn’t that possible?”

Dan blinked a couple of times then made to sit up but only got as far as leaning up on one elbow. “Bloody hell, Alan, that could work but I’d need Chrissie to find out all the relevant profile passwords and so on”. Alan shrugged and rolled beneath Dan, looking up at him, “I don’t know, she’d be doing us a darn sight bigger favour than hunting up Draco Malfoy. I bet she’d jump at the chance”.

Dan grinned, “I bet she’d jump at the chance of coming here, too, but you’re right. I need to approach her first, see if she can suss out the passwords etc.”

Then they finally kissed. Free of onlookers and gawkers. Just themselves and a few others seeking equal privacy in far flung corners. This time the lovers felt free to roll towards each other and hold tight as the kiss leapt from lazy to feral in a heartbeat.

Remembering where they were, they emerged gasping and looked around guiltily but no-one had noticed or were too discreet to say so. Alan looked into Dan’s eyes, “I ache for you also, my Danny. All the time. Particularly lately, the feelings have become all the more intense”. Loosening his hold, Dan moved away far enough as to not go cross-eyed, “Me too. I suppose that this is this bond thing taking hold?” Alan smiled, “When we have the luxury of excess time then we might read into the affair but for now, yes, I suppose so, but, hell, I want you anyway, bond or no bond. My Dan, I wanted you and loved you a long time before we came here”.

Abashed at this confession, Dan could do nought but press his mouth to Alan’s, “I caught you watching me on set a time or two”, he said, lightly. Alan growled and pressed him into the lounger, then admitted, “I was intoxicated with you then but it is nothing to how I feel now. Bond or no fucking bond, I love you, Danny, this is real, no magic, and, yes, I used to watch you avidly. I have seen you grow, Danny, as both actor and man and now wizard and I am awed, Danny, I am truly in awe”, and with that he kissed him again with main force until both of them made small guttural sounds.

Collecting himself, the ardent older man parted them slightly but couldn’t resist a last taste of the lips he loved so much and Dan arched up into the touch, parting his own again in invitation. Alan desisted but barely, settling back on the lounger and pulling Dan against his side. “Bloody hell, Danny, you unhinge me, I nearly fucked you right here and now in such a public space”.

Letting out a long breath, Dan agreed, “And I’d have let you”, he admitted. They separated for now and caught their breath both lying back against the lounger cushions. Dan smiled, the atmosphere was certainly conducive, right enough, hidden as they were in the shade of the vast umbrella they’d transfigured. From where they lay, they could only see small patches of people in the bays to either side of them, all with backs discreetly to them and the shimmer of various charms, that the hot afternoon sun picked up and made glow, apparent between other bays and theirs: they were being afforded complete privacy.

He sneaked his hand closer until he grasped Alan’s, “It’s only ‘cos I love you so much”, Dan whispered. The hand he clasped squeezed his in reply, “I know, brat, I know”. They both looked up as footsteps approached, to see Remus Lupin pulling along a very reluctant Tom who was yelling, “No. Will not, ya perv. Le’me’lone, wanna lie down” and they burst into their privacy with the force of a gale.

Remus muttered, “Sorry, chaps, can one of you configure me a lounger like the one you’re on? He really does need to lie down”. Rising, Alan shook his head then did as asked before Remus shot him a grateful look and lowered his by-now comatose lover on it then sitting himself on the edge with his head in his hands.

Dan was the first to ask, “What is it, Remus? And why is Tom so obviously pissed?” At this the werewolf looked up and both Dan and Alan could see, even in this low light, just how tired and drained the man seemed, “It’s the only thing that works against the pain of Voldemort calling him and torturing him through the Mark – he’s been doing that a lot of late. He’s massing his forces, calling together his allies and Tom can feel everything, even with the cuff on. I fear it’s killing him from the inside and all he can do is dose himself against the agony. I fear that Severus’ pain potions are no longer effective. This needs to end and soon, or I fear that he might either die or submit to the temptation to join him just to ease the constant pain”.

Dan was startled that Tom was in such a state as was the werewolf and a spike of concern went through him. “Have you told Dumbledore about this?” The man nodded, “Though there’s sod all the old bugger can do about it. Poor Tom has to suffer”. Alan brooded a moment, sunk deep into thoughts. “Give me a while, Remus. I have all of Snape’s research material at my disposal, let me try and come up with something. We can’t have the poor lad suffering like this”, and Remus thanked him heartily although Dan secretly wondered what the hell Alan thought he could do as Severus Snape’s pain potions were ineffectual. His lover merely pecked his mouth and stood, “I must see what I can do, love”, he murmured and was off, striding over the dry grass on long legs.

Remus made to utter some words of apology but the relief on his face was evident. He held Tom across his lap, cradled in his arms and rocked him gently. Seeing this, Dan leapt to his feet, “I’m gonna see if I can help. I think I can cut up the icky ingredients if Alan can’t. Please excuse me”, and he was off across the grass, having to run to catch up with his lover.

Hearing Dan’s feet pattering behind him, once Alan reached the cool sanctuary of the castle he paused and waited for Dan to catch up. When he did he pressed him into a cold stone wall and kissed him, thus silencing the questions that Dan fired at him as soon as he was close enough.

When the kiss ended, Alan laid a finger over Dan’s lips, “Ssshhh, I know what’s in Severus’ pain potion. He includes the tiniest nip of almost pure heroin into the mix. Potions master or not, I happen to know, that, despite it’s illegality as a recreational substance, that heroin is the mightiest painkiller on this planet. It is what they give terminal cancer patients as one half of a substance known as a Brompton cocktail. The other half is cocaine hydrochloride. I can increase the strength of the heroin in the mix and thus afford the lad some relief. Once this is all over then I can reduce the dose after, hopefully, the cuff comes off. Now, shall we set to brewing?”

Gobsmacked, Dan trailed after him into the dungeons and refrained from saying a word until they had reached the safety of locked and warded rooms whereupon Dan gasped, “So Snape has illegal muggle drugs in here somewhere?” Alan smiled, “Yes, although they are in the lab beneath us, not the pristine one but the real workshop. There’s a sizeable amount of cocaine down there too as well as Durophet, Mandrax, Tenuate Dospan and an incredible collection of about fourteen different types of amphetamine, all stored in carefully labelled jars amongst the eye of newt and toe of frog. I’ve looked over his stores”.

Tentatively, Dan enquired, “Won’t increasing the opiate dose addict him?” To which Alan replied in a low voice, “I think, my love, that rather depends on us and how quickly we can despatch Voldemort. Once the cause of the pain has gone then there should be no need of the remedy, but I think this is the only way we can keep Tom pain-free. At least he can eat and sleep, he looks as if he has been getting neither lately”.

Dan sighed, “Aye, poor Tom. He’ll have to stay doped up during the battle or the pull’ll likely kill him. Then we’ll have to get him off the gear. I believe that’s a messy business at best”. Alan smiled, “Indeed, but by my reckoning, it is a mere three weeks until your birthday and we suspect that Voldemort will strike before Harry’s birthday so that means that Tom will be on his new medicine for four weeks at the most. With luck that should afford him no more than the violent ‘itchies’ as he withdraws and he won’t have a serious habit”.

Cocking his head to one side, Dan regarded Alan sombrely, “You seem to know a lot about it”, he said. Alan nodded, “A family member. Succumbed in the sixties. Had to stay in India as she couldn’t afford to maintain an addiction in this country without turning to crime. She lived on the Goa beaches for years until my mother had a minor Lottery win then sent for her nearly ten years ago now. She still feels the pull of the drug. I know I have to be careful with Tom’s doses, I intend to make them on a sliding scale so he only has enough to kill the pain, preferably without intoxication”.

Nodding at the logic in this, Dan asked, “Have you ever tried it yourself?” Alan snorted, “Yes. Once. When I was nineteen. I had a smoke of the stuff, promptly threw up or dry-retched for the next two hours before slumping in a totally fuck-witted state for the next eight or so. No, I didn’t enjoy it, and, no, I never indulged again. I feel some drugs send you warning signs, ‘do not touch’. Heroin did that and I stayed well away. What of yourself?”

There was a long silence before Dan spoke, then he said in a whisper, “Yeah. I lost someone close to me. I was doing the sixth film and I was starting Equus. I was too busy to go to the funeral. He was a guy from my neighbourhood, someone I’d known since I was a kid. I’d heard he was ill but I thought he’d recover, you know? Only he didn’t. He died. And I couldn’t get the fucking time off – from the damned job to go see him off properly with the rest of the gang. I hated my fame and everything that went with it that night. After I came off stage that night, I was invited to a party and I went.

Everyone was loads older than me and I soon lost sight of the girls that had brought me with them. I knew no-one there and none of the people seemed to know who I was or if they did, they didn’t give a fuck. It was great, actually. I could wander around and listen in to random conversations, join in, have a laugh and it was brilliant.

I circulated through the house. I spent some time on the landing getting to know these two lovely lesbian girls. I can remember that....”, his voice tailed off and his eyes drifted to stare into space until Alan squeezed his hand and Dan blinked, “Yeah, sorry, so I was at this party and I was aware of something going on in the attic but entrance was by invitation only and everyone on the stairs was clutching at least twenty quid.

Okay, I was curious and I had a wedge on me so I went for a piss then joined the queue. I got chatting to these two blokes and was ushered in with them. The place was thick with smoke and I coughed. I could smell grass but there was a bitter smell at the back of it. When I got to the front of the queue, I was asked what I wanted. There was this huge Jamaican bloke with dreadlocks everywhere serving out the gear on a plank set up between two crates. The other half of the attic was full of cushions on which reclined several people, all with their eyes at half-mast and daft smiles on their faces. I pointed at this girl who looked really happy and said, “I want what she’s had”, and forked over my twenty quid.

The guy grinned at me and took my money then cocked his head behind him. There was a curtained off area that I hadn’t seen as I came in and I noticed it now. Stepping carefully around the big guy, I ducked behind the curtain, to see this small dude fitting a sterile needle into a syringe base, suck up some clear liquid into the barrel and only then did he look up at me.

“Hi”, he said, and smiled, then pointed at the other chair across from where he sat, “Come and sit down. Which hand do you write with?” Automatically I held out the right. “Roll up your left sleeve then, above the elbow”, he instructed as I sat. In short order he had my bicep tied off, a vein tapped up in my forearm and was sliding the needle in. When he let go of the strap around my arm it was as if my brain experienced an orgasm. I vaguely recall throwing up but someone saw to it and I didn’t stress. I was in this perfect little cotton wool bubble for the next many hours. I know I tried to fuck at least three guys there. Maybe I succeeded, I dunno to this day but I woke up the next day with three guys all around me and a case of the fuzzies.

Heroin was a friend to me for almost two months until I was itchy without it. That and the next movie on the horizon snapped me out of it but I sort of know it’s allure. Be careful, love, when you make this potion”.

Stunned by this, Alan could do no more than lean forwards and kiss his man until he moaned, “I’ll be careful, lover. Now I must tear myself away and do some brewing”, and Dan let him go. He had much to think about – so many memories had been stirred.

****

Several hours later, Alan emerged from the deeps triumphant, bearing aloft a flask filled with blue liquid to find his Danny sprawled out face-down on their bed, his face mashed into a book and his glasses askew. He was snoring loudly.

Smiling at the sight, Alan laid down the flask and set about making his beloved more comfortable. He removed his glasses and the book, banishing the small drool-trail, before closing it and laying it aside. He disrobed his man and felt a familiar tightening in his groin as he did so at the sight of all that flesh now on view. Dan continued to snore softly.

Levitating him carefully on the tip of his wand, Alan negotiated Dan into bed and covered him up. He left a note on his pillow, kissed Dan again who smacked his lips sleepily and left with his precious bottle.

It was quite like old times, Remus thought in a dim corner of his mind, as he answered the confident knock and stood back to admit Severus Snape in full snapping cloak and robes with a phial of something-or-other in his hand. Only this wasn’t Severus so what the hell was this in the bottle?

Alan held it out to Remus, “An extra strong brew of Severus’ Found it in a cupboard. Give Tom a thimbleful as needed but no more than four times a day. This should dull the pain sufficiently but do not be surprised if all he wants to eat are sweet foods. Sugar is an ideal accompaniment to this treatment but do not give him more no matter how persuasively he requests it, this potion does have an addictive quality to it but we hope that Tom does not have to take it for long. We hope that we have done what we have to by then”, and with that, he whirled again in a cloud of black cloth and vanished again.

He found he was quite exhausted as he entered their rooms after the trek back. He closed and warded the door then slumped against it. He liked it down here. He had the peace and quiet he had wished for, what seemed like years ago: in fact his whole former life seemed like a dream, something far off and mis-remembered and this was the reality now. Loving Dan, being loved by Dan. Having magic and using it. It was all so thrilling but for the blight that was Voldemort. He opened his eyes and saw a green flashing light in the fire. They’d missed a call.

Stepping over, Alan sank to his knees and, using his wand, he re-activated the Floo to hear the ‘message’, a grateful Remus, “I wish Severus were here to thank but he isn’t, so I’ll thank you instead, Alan, for digging up this remedy. He’s asleep now, the first real sleep I think he’s had in ages. You were right about the sweet foods, he asked for ice cream. I thank you, Alan, from the bottom of my heart”, and the message ended. Alan grinned and went into the bedroom.

And there was another sleeping vision lying on his side now with one fist bunched under the top pillow and the other hugging Alan’s pillow, his face was buried in it. Alan tried to fight down all kinds of soppy feelings when he saw this but failed miserably. Instead he smiled and walked towards the bed then undressed, quickly and quietly.

Lifting the bedding, he carefully extricated the pillow from Dan’s arms to hear a groan as man and bag of feathers were separated but Alan grinned, settling himself in the pillow’s place and smirking as Dan’s questing arm found a warm body to hold instead. With a soft grunt, Dan sank his face into Alan’s back, licked, liked the taste and turned his face to one side so he could breathe and hold as he slept. He made a little wriggle then stilled. Alan grinned and let himself drift off once he felt Dan’s regular breaths against his back.

****

Knowing now that time was short, Alan and Dan practiced for several hours a day in their secret cave. They had given the Order the information about the unknown Room of Requirement then had slipped away from the meeting, leaving Remus in charge of the Map with a doped up Tom sprawled by his side, his pupils pin-dots in the middle of his eyes. Seeing this, Alan frowned, grasped Tom’s shoulder and muttered, “Hopefully, it won’t be for long”, as they exited leaving the babble of the Order meeting rising in pitch behind them.

Down in their hideaway they were finally practicing joined magics, spending time rehearsing moves to bring them together if they were separated and other moves as contingencies if plan ‘a’ failed. Now they needed serious opposition to practice with – they were too used to fighting with each other. They sat, getting their breath back after a session that had them both shirtless and glistening with sweat.

Swigging water, they discussed it. Pouring a bottle over his head, Dan shook drops from his hair and said, “I’d like to go up against that Kingsley bloke. He looks like he can take care of himself”. Alan smiled slowly, “I’d like to give either Ron or Remus a go”. Dan turned, “Ron? I can understand Remus, he taught Defence after all, but Ron? Now there’s a choice”.

Alan was thoughtful, “I sense that he still resents Snape in Harry’s life, blames him – or me – for Harry’s demise. I feel that if he opposed me, he’d bloody well mean it, and as you say, we both need a workout like that”. Stunned, Dan could do nought but nod at this logic. “Fair enough”, he murmured, “So where do we hold this competition?” Alan grinned, “It’s a competition now, is it? I rather thought either here or in the Great Hall”. Dan gulped, “Bloody hell, you don’t mind a bit of showmanship, do you?” Alan grinned, “I’m an actor, Danny, I don’t mind a crowd, and I think it’s about time the rest of them saw why we were substituted for their boy hero and his nasty potions teacher in the first place”.

The next Order meeting was in two days hence, they were called to assemble in the Great Hall and Alan and Dan practiced hard. All of the Order were there, the tables Banished to leave a large empty space and Dan and Alan called upon those they wished to oppose them.

Kingsley was deadly with Dan striking continuously trying to wear his opponent down. He gave no quarter but still Dan bested him, trapping him on his back on the ground, Dan’s/Harry’s wand at his throat. There were low-level catcalls and a smattering of applause at this demonstration.

Ron hissed out furious breaths and circled Alan, wand out, determined to take down this Death Eater, even if he did say he was some muggle actor type. In Ron’s pea brain all was not right and his friend was gone and that hurt more than he could bear, more than he could cope with; and now here he was crossing wands with this bloke. Oh yes, he was so going to pay for the death of his best friend.

He was quite the hexer and jinxer and Alan had a hard time of it avoiding lightning fast spellcasting but avoid it he did, keeping just a hairsbreadth between escape and being caught, using not only his wand but an array of wandless spells, too, that had the assembled company leaning towards each other and gossiping like mad.

When Alan finally flattened Ron against the wooden floor, tied him up and cast silencing spells to stop the redhead’s entreaties to be let go from being heard and walked away rubbing his hands together, the rest of the Order came to a common agreement: these two were powerful. Much more powerful than the combination of Snape and Harry.

It was when the two advanced on both of their ‘enemies’ that the crowd gasped and craned forwards; watching the shared spellcasting the way these two men held themselves and each other as they wore down the joined opposition of Kingsley and Ron then joint-cast an ‘incarcerous’ spell that tied their opponents together from shoulder to knees.

There was a silence for a moment before cheers and hoots started to be heard. On the back of this came applause and Dan and Alan looked around them quizzically. Why so enthusiastic? Their heroes were dead. But Remus cleared his throat and spoke with a nod from Dumbledore which probably meant that the following speech was sanctioned and approved by all of the present members.

The werewolf grinned, and looked around at all of the gathered. There was the usual passel of Weasleys, their collective redness marking them out. There were anxious faces, some full of dread, some, hope and all with a certain amount of awe for what they had witnessed. It was Remus who spoke first.

“I thank you for that excellent demonstration, Alan and Dan, and you only prove, by it, that we were right in the course of action that we, as a society, pursued. Yes, you were brought here. Yes, all of this echelon of the Order knew. Yes, we all helped to make it happen, and, yes, it was all worth it. Except for Severus and Harry dying. That we never planned for”, a collective murmur ran around the assembled company.

Alan wound his arms very slowly around Dan, as if he didn’t want the movement detected. Very close to Dan’s ear, he whispered, “This was all planned?”, and got the tiniest of nods as a reply. They had meant to bring them here, send their battle-weary lads into the muggle world where at least Harry could cope, bring fresh, stronger troops in. In a flash, Dan saw it all before his eyes: the spell work they had had to do on set, the accuracy of the wand-work, the insistence on the correct choreography.

Then coming here, honing skills already nurtured only this time with real magic, real power and now this. They all knew They had done this deliberately. Dan despaired and crumpled against Alan’s chest. In a corner of his mind he was pleased and delighted to feel Alan hold him tight against his chest and feel desperate kisses in his hair; feel the whisper through the taut skin of his scalp, “We’re fucked, love, they – all - chose us”, and then the wetness that dampened the roots of his hair before the tears trickled down invisible partings and was absorbed by his hair: he felt as hopeless as Alan did but he did not cry. Instead a ball of....something hardened inside him. It felt an awful lot like hatred.

Dan looked up into his lover’s face; saw the same devastation that he felt and whispered, way too low for anyone else’s radar, “It was all of them. They brought us here to die. I don’t think they expected this”. Alan made to nuzzle Dan’s neck sensuously, “I think you’re right. They really didn’t expect us, a pair of lovers from the other world. They expected two separate people, not involved, but we were, we are and on this side we even have a bond, an apparently rare and precious thing. Shall we tell of it?” Dan grinned and lifted his head in front of all those eyes for a kiss. Alan happily obliged him, then he replied, “No, I think we’ll leave that for another day, don’t you?” They still had their secrets and they smiled conspiratorially and with love, kissed again lightly then parted.

To cheers from the rest of the assembled company. The demonstration felt as ash in Dan’s mouth. He felt Alan’s arms go around him forging an anchor point to the angry thoughts swirling around in his head. Grounding him. Centring him. He relaxed against Alan’s chest, dog-tired. He barely thought, “Look at them lover, we really are better than Snape and Harry”, before he passed out cold, held up in Alan’s strong arms, with the sound of cheering and merriment distant in his ears.

When he came to, he was in bed, it was dark, Alan was wrapped around him and silence surrounded him. He listened to it’s clamour for a moment then succumbed to the warmth of the body at his back and the arms around his waist. Smiling like an idiot, he slept again.

Once again, a concentrated demonstration of their joined power seemed to drain them. They lay in bed side by side as Dumbledore and Pomfrey fussed and clucked over them. Poppy dowsed them and Albus pronounced, “Rest now, boys, you need to get your strength back. You have expended a great deal of magical energy today. Rest. Eat. Sleep. Recharge your, erm, what are those dratted things called, Poppy? The things that the children need for those infernal noise-making machines?”

Poppy grinned as she finished her dowse, “Batteries, Albus. They carry around a little store of electricity for machines to use when there isn’t any, like here at Hogwarts and that infernal noise goes under the name of music, though what similarity it bears to the likes of Brahms and Beethoven is anyone’s guess. It’s all ‘thump, thump, thump’, nowadays”, she sighed.

The two vanished again in a whoosh of green and Dan turned sleepily to Alan, “Hold me. I’m scared”, he whispered and in an instant they were back in each other’s arms. Whatever the notes said; whatever the journal said, there was more than Snape and Harry’s will at work here. it seemed as if the whole of the upper echelon of the Order had willed this. Dan sighed as he curled against Alan, he felt as if it was just the two of them against the whole side of the Light.