Whose Universe Are We In?

22

July 22nd

Dan knew without casting any time spells by the thickness of the blackness surrounding him, that it was still the middle of the night. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, still totally unable to see a thing. He heard a swift rustle, too quick for the rustler to be asleep and murmured, “You awake?”

He felt lips on his shoulder and warm breath on his neck, “Yes, and I’m bloody starving”, came the rumbled reply. Dan chuckled and tipped his head, allowing those lips access to his neck, which they took, then all he needed to do was slowly turn his head so....and, yes, he was kissing his still half-asleep lover, their tongues slow and lazy against each other. Dan mused in a corner of is mind that this was actually one of the things he loved most about this man: he could kiss for Britain; kiss until your lips chapped, and none of that bite, bite, stuff either, well maybe just a bit, but the man kissed, snogged properly, the sort that went on for ages, with mouths fully fused, until he’d slowly end it, leaving Dan gasping. Only this time it was the sounds coming from Dan’s stomach that made them both back away, chuckling.

At that point, Alan cast a Tempus into the air before his face. His was red. Dan frowned and Alan turned, “What?” Dan rolled his eyes, “Why does yours come out red while mine is green? And what’s with the analogue clock-face?” Alan rolled his in return and made to climb out of bed, “It’s a generational thing, Dan, that’s why yours looks like a digital display. I’d have thought you’d have worked that one out by now”. Dan smiled and shrugged, “Never thought about it ‘til now”.

As it was only 3:30 am, they deemed it rude to Summon a house-elf and quickly threw on pyjama pants and robes with slippers on their feet. They slid their wands in their sleeves and Dan made a ball of witch-light to guide them, setting it to float just before them to light their way and Dan navigated using the Map. Mindful of all the other folk using the dungeons in the sweltering summer heat, they were almost silent as they left their quarters.

They had to climb several levels and could feel the heat and humidity rise as they ascended to the upper ground floor. They were both glad they did not have to go into the tops of the towers, the heat would be insufferable. The air was cooler in the entrance hall owing to its great height and there was a fresh small night-time breeze that they stood in a moment while they got their bearings and consulted the Map.

They found a likely way but the stairs were not co-operating and they had to climb still further before dropping down a couple of floors to the kitchen wing. Once there, Dan grinned as they found the picture and Dan gently tickled the pear. The heavy door swung open and all was chaos beyond.

The bright light made both men blink as they stood in the doorway and tried to make out the scene through the heavy pall of steam that shifted and engulfed the huge room while a sea of elves ran about hither and yon, one piled high with plates and crockery, another with a huge bundle of what appeared to be sodden bed-sheets and they didn’t collide or even seem to see each other but they missed each other, scurrying each about their business.

Dan muttered, “Come on, they’re far too busy, I thought we’d just raid the pantry or something....”, and made to back away when they were spotted by an elf rushing by with a stack of clean tea-towels who skidded to a halt in front of them and bellowed, “Humans”. Instantly all activity froze and many pairs of eyes turned their way.

“Oh. Um...”, Dan found his voice first, “I mean, we, er, missed dinner last night, had an early night and we’ve woken up hungry and sort of wondered....”. The elf who had first spotted them gave an odd expression. Dan thought it resembled a sneer, “Yeah, yeah, all right, humans, but there’s shifts of us on day and night, no matter if it’s holidays or not, come on, let’s stick you out of the way, we’re busy here. We’ve still got some soup from last night and some fresh bread...”, his voice tailed off as he turned and walked away. Dan presumed they were supposed to follow so he did.

They were seated at a low table and Alan had to stretch his legs out underneath. “Wait here”, the elf commanded and bustled away. Dan muttered, “They’re not very friendly, in the books they sort of fall all over humans with this supposedly innate need to serve”. Alan smiled at him then continued to watch the bustle in the kitchen, “Dan, recall they were children’s books, love. There’s a lot more going on here as we already know, other people’s fictions notwithstanding”.

Eventually the elf stomped gracelessly back to the table bearing a tray. He off loaded two bowls of a thick brown soup in which could be seen all sorts of vegetables, crusty bread with the steam still rising from it, a dish of butter and a platter in the centre containing fruits and thick slices of cake, yellow in the middle and dusted with coconut on top.

Dan was almost salivating into his soup, “Wow, thank you, we really appreciate....”, but he was cut off by the surly elf who waved a hand at him, “No matter, just don’t get in the way, the sheets ain’t cleaned by bloody magic, you know, and tonight’s wash night. When you’ve done, leave your tray here and go out through that door there”, he pointed to a low door near to them. As they turned back to ask why, his back was disappearing into the steam.

Tucking into their meal, Dan murmured, “Well, I suppose they are pretty busy. Wow, this food’s excellent”. Alan just grunted and kept eating, he had done more exercise than Dan after all. Refreshed after their food, they wrapped the fruit and cakes into a napkin and stole from the room quietly. No-one seemed to either notice or be bothered at their leaving.

They left by the small door as requested and saw why. By the time they rose, the kitchen was a mass of washing lines from which hung the sheets from the dormitories. They’d have ended up totally lost in a labyrinth of flapping wet cloth if they’d have tried to find the main door again, though when they finally left the steam behind, they hadn’t a clue where they were and the darkness was Stygian all about them.

Creating his little witch-light in one hand, Dan flapped open the map with the other, flattening the parchment to the wall as Alan said the spell and the lines rapidly appeared and they leaned close to pore over it, Alan threading his arm around Dan’s waist, a gesture that earned him a kiss under his jaw.

Turning back to the map, Dan murmured the spell to enlarge their current area. With their own eyes they could see they were in a door-lined corridor but on the map their two flags were in a blank white space that simply read, “Elf-zone”. Obviously none of the Marauder map-makers nor the subsequent owners had ever ventured down here before.

They set off with the kitchen door at their backs and the witch-light now floating a few feet in front of them. Alan had to keep his head down as the corridor ceiling frequently bulged downwards. Dan reckoned that the overall width of the corridor was about eight feet, enough for them to walk comfortably abreast but at most was only six feet in height, hence the need for Alan’s bent head.

Every few feet along either side were closed doors that resisted Dan’s attempts to open them. Alan peered at the strange contraption to the left of each one, a small clear crystal tube containing coloured liquid sat in some sort of holder from which it could be removed. Alan carefully held one up to the light. This one contained red fluid about three-quarters full and was slightly warm to the touch.

Baffled, Alan picked out another further along the corridor. He almost dropped it so cold was it, and the fluid within was pale blue. He replaced the tube in the holder and held his fingers under his arm for a moment to warm the tips when he sniggered, “I know what these rooms are. They’re temperature controlled. I bet all the food is stored down here”, and Dan shrugged, “Well they keep them locked tight, I can say that much”. Alan smiled, “Wouldn’t you in a school full of permanently hungry kids?”

Smiling at a memory, Dan sighed, “Yeah, if we’d had my favourite pud in school, we always used to chat up the dinner ladies afterwards and they’d give us any that was left but the kitchens were locked tighter than the Bank of England vaults”. They pressed on.

The corridor was long and fairly straight. They must have passed twenty doors on each side before it ended abruptly in a left turn at the base of a flight of steps going up into the darkness. Holding the small light high, they ascended.

At the top they were faced with a choice of right or left. The map was no help either, they were still in the midst of ‘elf-zone’, so they decided on right. The corridor here was taller and Alan could walk upright again but it was still cellar-cold down here and there were no windows so they couldn’t get their bearings.

The passage sloped slightly up as they progressed and ahead of them they could see another large opening to the left that presaged stairs and swiftly reached it only to see the stairs leading....downwards. They thought to go back the way they had come, see which way the other half of the passage led but they had come so far now, they might as well press on.

Down the smooth stairs they went. There seemed to be no rooms down here, there were no doorways at any rate but the passage still seemed to slope upwards and was free of dust and debris so there was occupation down here somewhere. The path rounded a corner and came to a dead end but for a small arched doorway no more than four feet high. Where the fuck were they?

The door creaked on it’s hinges as it swung outwards and Dan stuck a cautious arm in holding his light. There was a tiny cramped spiral stair but this time it led up. Once they were on it they realised that it was even smaller than the one that led to their secret dungeon and both had to fold at the waist and use their hands on the steps that were worn in the centres from many generations of house-elf feet.

There was a tiny landing of sorts after many steps and here the ceiling was slightly higher, allowing Dan, at least, to straighten up and unkink his back. Alan had to kneel to accomplish this. It was then that he noticed the door behind Dan and pointed it out. Dan turned right around and tugged on the circular metal handle, twisting it this way and that, until, with a squeal it opened inwards.

Alan had to retreat down the stairs to allow Dan to get the door open and sink to his knees to see through it. Instantly the air on their faces was fresher. Ducking his head down, Dan crawled through on hands and knees then called back softly over his shoulder, “I think we’ve ended up on the third floor Charms corridor. Oof, let’s get out of that godawful stairwell and take a gander at the map. Come on”, there was a hand extended to him and Alan grasped it and crawled through the doorway.

Relieved that he was able to stand fully at long last, Alan let out a groan as his back popped audibly so that even Dan winced, “Ouch, bet that was harder on you than me, seeing as how you’re so much taller. For once us short-arses have the upper hand if we need to invade the elves’ space again. Still, it’ll serve us right, we either order in before we crash out or we make it to meal-times in the Hall”.

Pushing the door to, they set off down an altogether taller corridor to where they thought the main stairwell was, only to find a small open space from which ran off three corridors. “Oh, I thought...”, Dan exclaimed and scratched his head. Alan snickered, “me also. I suggest we look at the Map. I could also have sworn that the stairs are just ahead of us and that the library is just down there two floors and to the left etcetera”.

Dan nodded, “Yup, I thought I was in exactly the same place. Oh, well, let’s see...”, and he flicked the map out and tapped it with his finger to activate it.

At first they got the full schematic hut in not much detail but when Dan asked for specifics, the Map redrew itself showing them to be right on the other side of the castle to where they thought themselves to be, a fact that puzzled both of them until Alan murmured, “Perhaps elf-space is larger than anyone realised, Danny, and they made that unknown square area too small, though god knows how we ended up this far away from the kitchens geographically when we mainly climbed or descended and didn’t travel on the flat much at all”.

Grinning as he looked up, Dan nodded, “My thoughts on the matter exactly. Maybe this is why Dumbledore doesn’t know this place half as much as he’d like. I reckon Hogwarts is an entity very much unto herself, Aren’t you, girl?”, he said it fondly and stroked a stone wall with the flat of his hand.

Alan wasn’t so sure, “I thought this place was his, and I quote, “Telepathic partner”, If that’s the case then why doesn’t he know all her secrets?” Dan rolled his eyes, “You and I are telepaths and very much partners and lovers but there’s still so much I don’t know about you and I’ve said ‘yes’ to marrying you even”. Alan shot him a smile and was glad of the small light in such a large space hiding his blushes. “I suppose so”, he grudgingly ceded, even as his heart warmed at Dan’s speech.

Finally they reached the main stairwell and all the flights were quiescent. They needed to be back near the entrance hall so Dan passed on the first flight as the one it was connected to could lead them further away from their objective but they walked to the head of the second flight and Dan pointed down, “See, this one connects with the one going to the library and we’ll be home in two shakes. I fancy a cup of tea if we’ve got any milk left and then a slice of this cake before another few hours sleep and then....”

But he got no further. As they set foot on the steps, the all-too-familiar grinding and shifting started to happen and they clung on to the balustrade as their stairs parted company with the landing below and swung out perilously over three storeys of nothing before finally connecting with another landing and shuddering to a halt, leaving Alan and Dan breathless and their arms aching from holding on so tight.

When all seemed to have gone still, Dan loosened his hold and stood up, “Come on, I think she does this every night. It’s the equivalent of a stretch for her”, he held his hand down and Alan disentangled himself from the banister and accepted Dan’s assistance.

He scrutinised Dan’s face as he stood and said as he straightened, “Why female, Danny? Why is the castle female?” Dan grinned, “No idea, I just think that she is and that she likes the kids but Dumbledore makes too many demands of her”. Startled, Alan stopped walking, “Really? You think this?” Dan shrugged, “I dunno. It’s hard to say. The castle doesn’t talk to me directly but I can sort of see things about her as I’m out and about in her spaces. I mean, how the hell would I, Dan Radcliffe, know about the demands that Albus Dumbledore puts on his domicile and his school?”

Huffing out a long breath, Alan looked sideways at his young bond-mate and saw the war in his head reflected in his face and decided. He loved this young man for good or ill. He looked at the uncertain man and stepped towards him, “I wouldn’t know, Dan, but this I do know. You are special. In a way, possibly, that the real Harry Potter wasn’t. You have the abilities that he lacked. I only wonder that they left it this long before bringing you across to this side. They must have read it in you”.

Dan was silent for a long while, then walked off the stairs into a corridor with a window and stood there staring out at the rising dawn. Alan caught up with him in time to hear him say, “Us, Alan. Us. Lest we forget, it was the two of us that were brought here. In fact I’ll go further, How does this sound. I postulate that they waited until we were well and truly a ‘couple’ before we were brought here. All this wouldn’t have worked if we’d been two colleagues just rehearsing our lines in that caravan, now, could it?”

Dan turned to Alan then, his face unreadable, “The reason that it worked is because we were both couples. That’s how bonds work. We have one, love, they didn’t. We were brought here for that reason and now we have no hope of going back but it was us, babe, not just me that was brought here. Hermione says that that piece of wall has been dodgy for decades and had been forgotten until Tom slammed into it and the storm and the magic dislodged it and it rendered our transfer here permanent. I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Weird, isn’t it, how life can turn on a five pence piece”.

Alan regarded him, gazing into the green depths of Dan’s eyes, getting lost a bit until he heard the silence and knew he was expected to reply. He pulled Dan to him and buried his face in Dan’s shoulder, threading his arms about Dan’s neck and the back of his head and clutching him close, {Yes, my Danny. Yes. I never dreamed my life could be as good as this even though we seem to hold the wizarding world in our inexperienced hands and you are right, they would not have chosen us but for the fact that we are lovers. I have suspected this all along}.

Lifting the man’s heavy head from his shoulder, Dan gazed into the dark stormy eyes and smiled then allowed himself to be held close again to his beloved’s body. His sang with the prolonged contact and Dan found himself kissing anything that was warm and not him within mouth-reach until he felt movement again and his lover’s mouth on his own.

Dan knew he whimpered helplessly into the kiss and didn’t care, so taken up was he by the utterly erotic feel of his lover’s tongue dancing with his own. He wound around Alan like ivy round a drainpipe and Alan held on tight, supporting his weight where needed, holding him steady as Dan pressed closer and Dan smiled into the kiss at the way Alan adjusted to each nuance of their bodies’ position and held on, balancing, correcting and still never ending his mining of Dan’s mouth. For this alone, Dan could love him.

After a kiss like that, they chuckled between themselves and determined the fastest way home: up the stairs again until they reached the first staircase, then down, past the library and they knew the way from then on but it was when they were half-way down tat staircase when the whole shebang started to move again.

This time Dan clung to Alan as well as to the balustrading as the stairs changed. Perhaps they had tarried here too long. They hung on and sat down on the stairs as they rearranged themselves and came, grinding, to a halt once more. Wishing to get off as quickly as they could, Alan and Dan dashed down their staircase and out along a dark corridor, Dan’s witch-light guiding the way.

Re-reading the Map, they determined they were fairly near to home but dared not use the stairs again feeling that they were against them. Dan giggled, “Perhaps they obey Dumbledore”, he groused cheerfully as they adjusted to where they were and once again headed for the dungeons.

They used internal stairwells from then on and delighted so much in finding themselves upon their familiar stair that they kissed deeply at the top and once again at the bottom before seeking out their chambers and delighting at finding themselves within once more, wrapped in the benevolence of the castle and the feeling of home. They still had to have a toasted cheese snack, though, before they retired, as it had taken them so long to get home but they curled up in their bed and held tight, kissing again in the darkness as sleep stole over them and took them to her bosom for what remained of the night.

****

Alan’s lazy ‘tempus’ showed him it was still early, still some time before breakfast. He rose, disentangling himself from Dan, and went to use the loo and brush his teeth. He grimaced at himself in the mirror, still so far from the Alan he had always been. He wanted to be loved for himself but as he gazed, he supposed that this was it now, this was the way he was going to look until gravity once again made his attributes head south.

He let his eyes travel down his body and he still found it hard to believe that he had been de-aged twenty-odd years in order to be lusted after by a boy still only just over half his age.

He took in the toned stomach and chest, he supposed that Severus Snape had also been a swimmer or something that worked him out. The arms weren’t muscle-thick but they were strong, he could actually lift things not just look good. His body did remind him of his former self: a self he had said goodbye to many years previously, and here it was, back again; the cut muscles, the stone-hard abs, the still-rounded arse, only now he had someone to appreciate it all whereas he hadn’t last time and he still had the wisdom of his sixty two years in the body of a thirty seven year old. He allowed himself a smug moment at this thought. Most would kill for it. He recalled plainly his wish to be two decades younger, in order not to feel like such a dirty old man. And he had had his wish granted. In spades. He finished his ablutions and went straight back to bed and tucked himself back in, back to chest with Dan, who wrapped an arm around him the moment he felt warm flesh, and with a grin, fell asleep again, Alan following as he warmed up.

****

In the early morning light, Hermione leaned up on an elbow and watched her lover sleep. She smiled and lifted a hank of hair away from the girl’s mouth, tidying it away behind an ear, then leaned in and tried to enter the sleeping mouth with a tentative tongue. She was brushed away by a sleepy arm across the face.

Not defeated yet, she rolled her lover gently onto her back then in a deft move, spread the lush thighs and descended.....She loved the scent of her beloved in the early morning and this taste would get her through ‘til breakfast time....she dipped her head and started to feast....

****

“Ow”, exclaimed the young man writhing on the business end of Ron’s cock as his arse was slapped again. “Ron, you’re a fucking pig!” Ron pulled out and plunged in again, making his lover moan and squirm again, “Aye, I know, but you fucking love it when I’ve got this”, another thrust, “up your arse so far I’m gonna cum in your throat, now take it, you prissy Italian tart”, thrust, “Take it”, and he did, to the mutual delight of them both.

****

After a moment getting their breath back, Alan let Dan’s cock slide out of him and he tipped off his lover to his side. Dan held his arms open and Alan, smiling widely, rolled into them and grinned against Dan’s chest as they folded around his back, one holding his head close on Dan’s broad shoulder and stroking his hair.

Whilst enjoying the cosseting, Alan mused that this part of lovemaking was as important to Dan as it was to him, and he wriggled his fingers under Dan’s back and squeezed him gently. There was no need for words either out loud or inside, their bodies did the talking for them, holding tight all tangled up as they smiled and dozed.

****

Remus heard the loud shout and glass breaking from the bed and was up in a shot. Without thinking of his naked state, he rushed into the bathroom to see Tom curled around his left forearm on the floor with broken bottles all around him. “Fuck, Remus, it hurts so much. He’s calling....It’s so strong”. In a flash, Remus dashed back into the bedroom, “Hold on, Tom..”, he called over his shoulder as he ran. This was one of those occasions where they had to use the potion.

Fishing the small phial from its hiding place he dashed back to see Tom rocking, his teeth showing, his jaw and eyes clenched shut. He was not faking this, his lover was in real pain. With shaking hands, Remus unstoppered the phial and stepped forwards to Tom and crouched beside him, touching the cold glass to his lips.

“If it is that bad, love, then here’s some of the potion. It will take away the pain but it will also set your recovery back somewhat. What do you wish to do, love?” Tom snarled, “He’s hurting people, Remus, he’s torturing.....burning. He’s raping a child, take it away, Rem, take it away, please”. Shocked at the vividness of the images Tom was describing, Remus tipped the phial slightly. It rattled on Tom’s teeth but he parted them enough to pour the potion into his mouth. Tom swallowed with a loud gulp.

It was only when he saw Tom’s face start to relax that Remus first felt the pains in his knees and feet and looked down. Hells! There was blood on the floor and from the pain he was in it was himself that was causing it. When he’d first checked on Tom, the lad was hurting but not bleeding.

He felt Tom slump against him and for a moment, Remus just held him as the potion did its work, then Tom said dreamily, “This floor’s cold, Remus. Why are we in here?” Remus didn’t like to see Tom in this drugged-up state. He stood slowly and checked himself over, picking out a few shards of glass from his bloodied knees and Tom said vaguely, “Rem, love, you’re hurt. What happened?” With pin-dotted eyes he surveyed the wreckage of the bathroom. “Oh, bugger”, he drawled; his tongue felt far too big for his mouth, “Did I do all this?”

Remus looked up at the slack-jawed man, “Yes, love, but you couldn’t help it. Voldemort called and you were in agony. I had to give you a dose of the potion. Are you in pain now?” Tom slowly shook his head and giggled, then retched a thin stream of bile onto the floor, “Shit, dude, I fucking hate heroin. It always makes me puke ‘n’ feel like a fuckwit”.

Straightening a damp bit of hair from Tom’s forehead, Remus said softly, “I don’t like seeing you so zoned out either, Tom, love, but I’d rather that than see you in the agony you were in. Now, let’s clean this place up, have a bath and get some breakfast inside us”. Tom grinned foolishly, “C’m I have some ice cream? Mmmm. Strawberry”, and Remus rolled his eyes, “Yes, I think the house-elves still have some left from last time”, and with that, he summoned his wand and started the process of cleaning up.

****

Albus Dumbledore hastily tied his gown over his nightshirt as he made his way to his living room and the voice calling him from his Floo fire. He found his glasses and sank gracefully to his knees, a feat that still had the power to surprise him at this great age and confronted Kingsley Shacklebolt’s face in his fire.

“Kingsley! Good morning. What is it that necessitates getting me out of a warm and cosy bed in such a hurry?” Even through the veil of flame, Dumbledore could still see the worry and concern etched into his old friend’s features. “Alas, Albus, this is no time for levity. Hogsmeade has been attacked!”

Albus reared away from the talking head, “Attacked?!! Death eaters I presume. I saw no Dark Mark but then I have been asleep....”. Kingsley cleared his throat, “About three hours ago, sir, just after dawn, there was a sweep of death eaters. Oh, god, Albus, they showed no mercy. For pity’s sake, they raped a fucking child. A muggle child at that, a boy, no older than eight. Their depravity has to be stopped, Albus, they have to be stopped. How far is Dan progressing?”

Dumbledore leant towards the flames, dropping his voice so the nosy portraits wouldn’t hear, “Very well, Kingsley. He’ll get an ‘O’ for this. Yes, it’s all working out very nicely indeed. They are all in that anxious stage that precedes battle. For all his lack of training, I reckon that our ‘uber-Harry’ is just about ready. Thank you for your news, sad though I am to hear it. I must away now, dear boy, for the breakfast bell sounds and I must be there. Do keep me apprised of any further developments. Voldemort is close now and we have this perfect window of opportunity, he will not know what it is that has hit him. It has started Kingsley, old chap, and it now has to play itself out. Please owl me a list of the casualties, that I may send out the appropriate condolences”. Kingsley answered in the affirmative and backed out of the fire, which promptly went out until Albus pointed his wand at it and lit it again. It gave him something to stare at as he brooded.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there but he was brought out of his reveries by a polite cough from the second portrait of his door-warden who informed him politely that the two interlopers were here to see him. Albus frowned at the painted man, “They are not interlopers, Sir Howard, they are substitutes, and we need them, so rein in your impulses to be horrid and let them in”. The familiar grinding of the stairway could be heard beyond the closed door.

****

They had awoken late and had opted for separate showers so as not to become distracted. As Dan waited for Alan, he was spread out on their bed on his stomach, deep into his book on bonds, and as Alan exited the bathroom rubbing his hair with a towel, it was to see Dan look up at him with a frown on his face.

Smiling down at him, Alan smoothed his hair back, “What has you all bothered, lover?”, he asked. Dan shook his head, “According to this book, wizard-to-wizard marriage bonds can be made pretty easily. Apparently it harks back to times when families were under siege in the fourteenth century or something, but anyway...”, Dan took a deep breath, “the long and the short of it is....if we ask someone like Dumbledore to officiate, there’s no reason why you and I couldn’t bond today”. Alan coughed and was glad of the towel prop enabling him to hide his reddened face. “Are you sure?”, he mumbled and emerged from under the towel with his hair all over the place.

Dan smiled and stepped up, clearing the hair away to see Alan’s face. He knew this was a big deal for his beloved. He had never been hitched before in all of his sixty two years and had held matrimony successfully at bay for many years during the relationship with his girlfriend. “We don’t have to, lover, it’s just an idea. It’ll make the magic loads stronger though, increase our powers lots because we have shown the commitment and the real bonding can start, not to mention that we can probably whup Voldie’s arse with a flick of the wrist”.

But Alan was thinking about it. For sure he had never been this deep into a relationship with anyone before, certainly not with the concomitant magic, not to mention the telepathy and their shared spell-casting abilities, but, dammit, this was not the reason to wed! Alan took a deep breath and contemplated the man in front of him, flicking his eyes open to see the love in Dan’s face as he took up Alan’s comb and started to sort out his hair and Alan couldn’t help the smile that crossed his mouth.

The reality of the situation was this: Alan had never been this in love before and he felt Dan’s loving touches as his hair was combed out, back over his head and he let himself relax and smile with each small jerk and tug as Dan really got into his task.

When his hair was combed out to Dan’s satisfaction, Alan came to again, purring at the attentions he’d been paid then opened his eyes to see Dan gazing down on him lovingly. His mind whispered, {Are you sure you wish to cleave to me in this way?} to see Dan’s slow and considered nod, {Yes, love, I do. I will take you unto me for the rest of my natural, which, now we are wizards, I believe is quite a bit longer than normal, life. Marry me, lover}.

Alan felt such an ache in his chest and winced at the intensity of feeling, then bit his lip and looked back into the blazing eyes looking at him. He gulped and nodded. Dan’s smile turned incandescent, “You will?”, he all but shrieked.

Catching his beloved in a huge hug, Alan laughed into the junction of neck and shoulder that his nose sank into, “Yes, my love. Yes. I will become yours. Let us seek Dumbledore out before breakfast”. Kissing him, Dan mumbled, “Afraid you’ll change your mind?” Alan shook his head and gathered Dan closer still, “No, not at all, but let’s strike whilst the iron is hot, so to speak”.

****

The moving stair deposited them in the headmaster’s office to find the man himself looking ashen slumped in the chair behind his desk. At that moment, Dan was reminded of exactly how old Dumbledore was rumoured to be. As it stopped and they stepped into the office, they both rushed to either side of the old man. {What do you suppose is the matter?}, Dan asked in his ‘low’ voice. Alan’s was equally low, {He looks like he has received a great shock. Look at him, he’s shaking}, and between them they talked Albus Dumbledore out of the fugue in which he found himself after Kingsley’s shocking news.

The old man looked up vaguely and repeated Kingsley’s news, to hear Harry – no – Dan as he said, “All the more reason why we need to do this, Albus. Bond us and we’ll stop the bastard. We will, we’ll stop him. This has gone far enough and struck too close to home”. Albus found himself vaguely nodding, barely taking in the words, “Assemble everyone this afternoon in the Great Hall. We will arrange the witnesses. You will need to see to the person who is to marry us. Do you think you can do that?” Dan severely doubted it, but Albus nodded vacantly, “Marriage. Officiant. Two o’clock in the Great Hall” and Dan patted the old man’s shoulder, “So no more of this shit happens, Albus. That’s why we’re doing it. Oh, that, and we love each other to pieces”. This brought the first vague smile to Albus Dumbledore’s face all day. He turned to them, “Very well, chaps, I need to prepare for the nuptials, do excuse me”, and he rose and disappeared through a door behind his seat leaving the two of them to rise and make their own way out.

On the way to the Great Hall, Alan stopped them in a silent corridor, pushed Dan into the nearest wall and kissed him breathless, holding Dan’s fingers trapped and entwined with his own high on the wall above Dan’s head, {Are you really sure you want to do this, Danny, my love?} Dan knew prevarication when he heard it and smiled around his beloved’s insistent tongue burrowing into his mouth, {Oh, yes, but do you? I know how wary you are about the ultimate commitment. You know this is for keeps, don’t you? We can never be ‘put asunder’ after this step?}

It hit him right then and he knew it to be true; a distillation of all his feelings about the man in his arms. He just nodded, “Yes, I know, Danny”, he said aloud, “and I still want to do this. It’s just a bit sudden. I had visions of us choosing wedding decor together, not the rushed thing this will be”.

Dan smiled, {I don’t mind so long as I am joined to you; in body, mind, soul and heart. Magic too. I want Dumbledore to marry us in our real names, not the names of the people we’re here to replace}. Still stunned, Alan planted a kiss on Dan’s brow, “I think it has to be our real names for the bond to take hold, love, and we all need the bond to take hold. After all, it was why we were brought here”, Alan’s tone was bitter.

Rearing back, Dan said, “Fuck all that, Alan, I love you anyway and I still want to bond with you. Actually I could give a fuck about those two right now but at the same time I have to thank them; for bringing us together, bringing us here, giving us extraordinary magic....giving me.....you”.

Alan couldn’t dispute this and hung on tight to his Danny, {I know. I know. You and I would probably have never happened beyond that wonderful fuck in my trailer. My alarm would have gone off, I would have kissed you as you slept, all flushed and beautiful, I’d have dressed, combed out the wig and gone back on set. I presume you would have gone by the time I returned though I would have been delighted to find you still in my bed but I harboured no illusions, Danny, I know how fleeting affairs can be amongst actors and at the time I invited you back? I saw no more future for us than that one time. I love what we have become, Danny, I’d love for us to continue that, make it deeper, explore all that it is to be a telepath or a bondee, or whatever the hell we are}.

Knowing this was the best acceptance he would get, he simply held his Alan tight and mind-murmured, {So that’s settled then? We’re getting married at two?} Alan smiled as he kissed him, {Looks like it, doesn’t it?}

They made their way to breakfast in a leisurely fashion.

****

As he gazed over all those gathered, Dan stopped at Tom. He’d hoped to ask him to be his best man but one look at him dashed those hopes. Of course! The attack that Dumbledore had described in that broken tone. Maybe Tom had experienced some of it and had had to be given the potion. Maybe he had been called. No matter, as a marital witness he was useless.

Breakfast magically appeared as it always did at Hogwarts, each day tailored to how many people were partaking plus two, to allow for the really hungry. Dan helped himself to the generous portions. Hermione noticed this as well as had overheard the conversation with Tom. She waited until Dan and Alan had filled their plates before sidling along the bench alongside Dan. “I’ll be your witness if you need one”, she murmured, “After all, if Harry Potter’s getting married then it’d look weird without either Ron or myself involved somewhere”.

He grinned at her. Of course! The perfect witness. He looked up at her and found himself ‘reading’ her. There was no malice aforethought. This girl meant what she said. He nodded, “Thank you, Hermione, we may yet need your services. Will you be available for two o’clock this afternoon?” Hermione tried not to giggle, “Why of course. I will make myself available. Might I ask as to the venue?” Dan blushed and stammered, “Um, here in the Great Hall. Sorry, should have said....”, but she waved him off and stood and left. There would be no more communication between him and her until the event itself.

Excited at having one witness on board, Dan and Alan were stunned when Remus stepped up, “I’ll willingly stand witness for either of you, I mind not whom I stand for, you are both amazing. You need to do this: complete the bond in some way, then defeat him. He is close. He is wreaking his havoc as we speak. Aye, I will speak up for you”.

It was Dan who held his hand up, “You have to do this from love of us, Remus, not expediency”. There was another voice that spoke. Ron’s. “Look, I never really got it when Harry fell for Snape, okay, but seeing you two, even though you aren’t them, sort of makes me think that perhaps they are able to bond in the afterlife or something, and with that in mind, I’d be happy to stand for either one of you. I loved Harry and now he’s gone, it’s like a big hole in my world but we have to attend to the bigger picture and they brought you two here for a reason and I think the reason is the bond you two have. I’ll stand witness for you guys”.

After glancing at his lover and conversing with him in the privacy of their minds, they accepted all three of the petitioners. They just needed one more on Alan’s side.

There was a silence until a small, fey voice spoke up, “I will stand for Alan Rickman”, it said. All eyes swivelled to the approximate spot and Luna Lovegood stepped into it. “Aye. I’ll stand for you, Alan, if no-one else will. I didn’t approve of Harry’s plan”. There was hubbub around the Hall as she said this.

She stood up and looked around, “Aye”, her voice became stronger, “Aye, I was the only one Harry admitted his fears to. That he might not be able to do this. That he might not live up to the prophecy despite the help he had from his lover, and make no mistake about it, Severus Snape was Harry Potter’s lover, so get used to it, people, and his plans to....er....borrow you two. You weren’t meant to be permanent, you know, just here to do the deed then you were to be sent back when you had your next projects to do, they had it all planned out. Obviously there’s a lot of details that I don’t know, but knowing both Severus and Harry, I’m sure there are meticulous notes somewhere”.

Dan started and coughed at the depth of her knowledge. He knew that the journal was probably the place for the ‘meticulous notes’, or certainly Harry’s. He had yet to finish scanning the thing, but time was pressing upon them and war was at hand. They had to fight. Mysteries would have to wait.

He looked up to see Alan grasping the girl’s hands and smiling down at her, “I thank you, Luna, and accept your offer to stand for me”. The blond girl smiled, “Aye, it’s no problem. Any actor who’s had a shave off a deranged Johnny Depp and survived the experience is a friend of mine”. Alan’s brows rose at this statement, that was clearly making others laugh, “You have seen other films of mine?”, he queried.

There was that fey laugh again, high, girlish and quite infectious, “Yes, idiot, I’m quite the fan of yours, actually, and Johnny Depp, so to see the two of you in one movie, and....um... singing no less. Well, let’s just say it’s a favourite and leave it at that. Ah, and the pair o’ ye in frilly shirts too”, she rolled her eyes heavenwards and clutched her hands at her breast then burst out laughing, “And now here ye are, fer sure and I’m about to stand at yer weddin’. Could it get any better, I ask meself?”, at this she bowed, and Alan, laughing hard, bowed back. “I am honoured then to accept you as my standee”, he murmured, stepping away.

They all took their seats again and started to eat, all aware of the need for fuel for the coming attacks. Talk was low and quiet around the tables. Luna watched the bondees and had a clear view of them. Her dining companion to her right leaned over and muttered, “So you knew Harry’s secrets? What else did he tell you and why were the rest of us not informed?” Luna turned to her interlocutor; Neville, and said, “Firstly, I was bound to silence. Harry trusted me and I wasn’t about to break it and, secondly, I’m a big fan of Alan’s and this thing he has going with Dan is amazing. I quite see the point of it all now, despite me spending hours begging Harry not to go through with it”.

“You did?” Neville seemed amazed. Luna rolled her eyes, “’Course I did, idiot! I begged him for feckin’ weeks not to do it but he said it was the best way. The only way that we’d win this war. He was so tired, Nev, so fucking tired. He wore glamours all the time, you know, to hide it, but he was knackered, really done in, so was Severus”. She noted Neville’s surprise at the use of the man’s given name, “Oh, behave, Neville, I am their Secret-keeper. I know everything but anything that can damage them or hurt them I cannot say”.

Neville looked mournful as he chewed on his scrambled eggs, “Well that’ll be everything seeing as they’re dead”. Luna shook her head, “No, Nev, not everything. While they are here, these two wear Severus and Harry’s magical signature, and as such, I am still in that role. I can only reveal so much”, she applied herself to her own meal, chewing thoughtfully on her toast and marmalade.

She could sense the frequent glances from her table-mate and finally sighed putting down her knife and fork and turning to face Neville, “Go on, what is it?” Neville blushed, swallowing his mouthful of food and laying his cutlery down. He wiped at his mouth with his napkin then looked into her eyes, “Why did you let them do it?”, he kept his voice low but there was no mistaking the anguish in it.

Luna turned away, “I trusted him, Neville. He wasn’t supposed to die. He had everything in place, from fake ID to bank cards. The lot. He wasn’t fucking supposed to die”. She heard the sigh beside her, “No, he wasn’t. He was supposed to come back. We were supposed to get our Harry back and now we won’t. And now we have to observe some fucking fake marriage service between two fake wizards...”. Luna could sense the rising anger in her friend and laid a hand on his arm.

“Neville. They are not fakes. That is why they are here and not Harry and Severus. Look, it was just bad luck with the tower falling on them and all. Just bad fucking luck. No-one saw that one coming. Not Dumbledore, nor Harry, nor Severus, nor even Alan and Dan when they finished their work and went for a (cough) lie down”.

Neville inclined his head at Alan and Dan, “So those two were entirely innocent? Knew nothing about any of it?” Luna smiled grimly, “No. Poor bastards didn’t even know they were at Hogwarts proper until they came round from the transference. They’ve been bloody brilliant, actually, a real boon to the Light and the Cause even if we have to keep them hidden. Face it, Nev, they’ve even found bits of the castle we knew nothing about”. Neville smiled slightly and had to agree.

****

Their morning was spent quietly out of doors, mainly in the staff gardens. Dan resisted all Ron’s offers for more broom training, he had the feeling that he would never come close to Harry’s prowess on a broom, and decided to spend the morning lazily working on his tan and the rather good book he’d filched from Snape’s shelves. Accompanying him, Alan was also carrying a couple of books, one on potions and another, with the cover cleverly disguised, was an erotic arts tome.

When they reached the bay in the garden that they already thought of as ‘theirs’, it was to find Remus Lupin on one of the loungers with Tom’s head in his lap asleep. He was buried in a book of his own and only looked up as they came in under the parasol and smiled a greeting.

Alan quickly made their lounger bigger and fell on it with Dan at his side. He instantly raised an arm and, despite the heat, Dan scuttled quickly to be closer to his lover, glad to tuck himself in against the bigger man’s side. He sighed with happiness when he was in the right place, where he belonged, even if he felt a bit daft for being so clingy but he just blamed it on the bond settling.

Eventually the heat made the tight cuddle into something looser but they still stayed connected as they read, Dan’s head now resting in the dip of Alan’s waist as he leaned up on an elbow to read. Remus watched them surreptitiously for a while, saw how they accommodated to each other automatically, how they moved in sync and sighed, he and Severus Snape had never had anything like that and neither had Severus and Harry, though he felt slightly irked that Severus had more assiduously chased the bond ideal with Harry rather than with himself but he knew he was being maudlin.

He wasn’t good enough for anyone. Just as he thought he had a love of his own, once Tom was well and truly under the influence of the potion, he started mumbling about how much he missed his brothers and his mum and dad and the dog and his car and his mates and Remus knew that whatever he and this boy shared, it would not be for ever. In fact it was cruel to keep this lad away from those he missed. Now if only they knew what the hell happened to Malfoy....

He smoothed Tom’s hair and the boy slept on deep in narcotised dreams, his left arm relaxed in it’s cuff. He glanced up at the other lovers to see them exchanging one of ‘those’ blistering looks. The sort that led to kisses. The sort that he longed to share with someone but looking down at the lad in his lap, Remus had to ruefully admit to himself, that this was going to go nowhere.

“Dan”, he called softly. Dan started out of his book and looked up. Remus smiled, “Sorry to disturb you but there’s something bothering me about what Harry and Severus did”. Interest piqued, Dan sat up. Feeling him move made Alan pay attention. “Go on”, Dan prompted. Remus looked down a moment, not awkwardly but more as a man organising his thoughts before speaking. “This ritual. That Harry and Severus did. We know it was meant to be reversible – was meant to bring them back at some time from the other universe – can we use it to send Tom home? He misses his old life so much and the magical world has not been good to him, he’s virtually imprisoned; by that thing on his arm and the drugs he’s on not to feel it. Can we send Tom home?”

Quite startled by this question, Dan felt Alan sit up properly beside him, “I really don’t know. I’ve started to scan all of the papers that they left behind into the computer but what with one thing and another, I’ve not really got round to reading everything. I mean I know there was a ritual that they used but I’ve no idea what it entailed. I want to get the next week or so out of the way then I’ve promised myself to look into it. That’s the best I can do at the moment, okay?” Dan wasn’t sure why he still felt so....bristly....around this man but he did.

Remus nodded soberly, “All right, that’s the best I can hope for but he truly does seem miserable here and I don’t blame him, he was in such a state earlier”, and went back to stroking Tom’s hair. He knew he was in love with the lad but if he needed to get back to those he loved then Remus wasn’t going to stop him. After all, what did he have to offer? Not much in the overall scheme of things. He had no money save his wages from Hogwarts and one day his pension. That hardly made him a catch for a Malfoy, but then Tom wasn’t a Malfoy, was he? Remus sighed and bent forwards far enough to kiss the temple of the boy in his lap.

{He loves him, doesn’t he?}, Dan mused through their link. {Alas, I rather think so. Poor man is destined to have his heart broken but I can also understand Tom wishing to return to his family}. Dan at Alan’s side merely sighed.

Turning, Alan could see the loss on Dan’s face and stayed silent. He couldn’t help feeling as if he’d got the best end of this transference deal. After all, he had a hot body again not to mention having lost twenty-five years so conveniently. Oh, and he was about to marry at long last.....to a man twenty years his junior.....and that was after he had de-aged. And, lest he forget, he was now the possessor of magic and quite powerful at that. Truly his cup runneth over and on impulse, he swept Dan into his arms.

Dan squirmed and chuckled at the sudden onslaught and grinned when he was kissed quite noisily on the side of the head. Fuck it! He was to be married in this world in a matter of hours and he sank into the fierce embrace, letting himself be gathered up and roughly held with nuzzles and kisses into his hair. That was when Dan laughed aloud.

Remus looked up at their playfulness, Severus had never shown his feelings like this and who could blame the man for his friskiness when he was about to be legally and magically bonded to a livewire such as Harr.....no....Dan. Damn! Sometimes it was still hard to think of the man as anything other than Harry, they shared so many of the same attributes but, no, this was Dan and he was witnessing for them later this afternoon.

When horseplay descended into kisses, Remus stared. When the kisses became infinitely more erotic and movement could be seen in their shorts, Remus coughed to remind them of where they were. Blushing and tentative with each other, they drew out of the kiss, leaving a last little peck on each other’s lips. Alan’s purr was unmistakeable whether spoken or projected mentally, {Shall we take this elsewhere, Danny? I, for one have an urgent desire to see you without clothing and I want to suck your cock. I can see that you are hard for me. Shall we?} Dan just smiled and nodded and they rose as one, their gazes never rupturing until Dan broke it, glancing down at Remus.

“There’s a few details we, er, need to sort out. You know, for this afternoon”, he blustered. Remus grinned, “Go on, bugger off, you go and have a nice shag, the pair of you. Remember to set your wand-alarms for twelve and we’ll see you both at two”. He grinned as he watched the two staggering off, obviously uncomfortable at having to walk with erections, hastily glamoured.

As soon as they were inside the cool and the dark of the castle, Dan slammed Alan against a cold wall and kissed him until he moaned. He disengaged from the kiss and took in the debauched face of his lover. Even in the dimness, he could still see the high colouring and slightly more swollen lips even though Alan’s eyes always looked dilated as they were now so dark but there was a glitter in them as he smiled slowly. Dan made a small sound in his throat and just had to kiss the man again, this time softer and deeper. For two pins he would have happily climbed inside Alan right then and there and taken up permanent residence. They needed to get back to their rooms.

Swimming in the kiss, Alan’s mind murmured, {Want you, Danny} and Dan groaned again, {Want you too, love. Let’s get back before I’m tempted to take you against this wall}, and they both chuckled as the kiss ended. Alan grinned at the look of lust in Dan’s face. His lips were swollen and his green eyes were so bright even under his half-closed lids and that mouth, that mouth was twisted up in a sexy half-smile – so dammed sexy that Alan had to lean in and kiss it again before flinging his arms once again around his lover, {Come on, let’s get to our rooms before I do you right here}.

They fell into their rooms laughing and kissing. Alan kicked the door closed. Dan was muttering wandless spells at it before he took Alan into his arms again, and, pressed against the back of the sofa, he was kissed senseless, Alan’s hot hands now free to wander where they might.

Wander they did, up and under the flimsy t-shirt, finding a nipple or two to pinch and roll before the shirt was ripped unceremoniously up and over Dan’s head and off, to be dropped in a sad little heap as Dan writhed in Alan’s arms, his nipples peaking as they rubbed against the linen of Alan’s shirt.

They kissed again until Dan pulled away and started to unbutton Alan’s shirt, slipping each free from it’s little hole and kissing down the hairy expanse with a soft series of sounds then latched onto a nipple as he freed it, pushing the fabric away off Alan’s shoulder. As he sucked and licked, he felt fingers clutch into his hair and smiled, sucking harder – he knew Alan had sensitive nipples – and felt rather than heard the loud groans.

He detached himself and looked up to see Alan’s head thrown back then down to see his trousers tenting nicely. He started work on Alan’s pants. He wanted his man naked and quickly. He wanted to feast on him but he stopped to see the look of loss on Alan’s face. He kissed it away, {Let’s go to bed. I want to strip you slowly}, his mind growled and Alan nodded, his own ‘send’ a little breathless, {Yes, bed. I want you so much, you have no idea}. He winced at a nipping bite to one pointy nipple, {Oh I do, Alan Rickman, I do}, and he laughed at the thought that he’d be saying those words for an entirely different reason in a few hours time.

They dragged each other through the door kissing and losing clothes along the way until they fell, sighing, across the wide mattress and took each other into slightly trembling arms, naked, wearing nothing but their love and broad smiles. They instantly twisted together and rolled around as they kissed, getting closer then closer still.

They frotted and rolled some more until Alan was on top. He held Dan’s arms out above his head and was looking down at him ferally. Dan grinned as he realised what his beloved wanted and he panted in anticipation at being well and truly taken. If he had to look at this close-up then he had to admit to bottoming more than he topped but he didn’t care; he loved the feel of that thick cock so deep inside him. He smiled up at his beloved, then let his eyes travel slowly down the long torso, over the hairy chest, over the flat stomach, the thick eager cock rising out of a mass of black hair, red at the tip but paler lower down, the fat head now leaking all over his belly, and Dan wanted it in him more than he could say.

He released his wrists from Alan’s grasp and wormed his way south, he wanted a taste of cock and he moaned aloud when he got it. Alan made a sound of his own as he watched himself fuck that sweet pink mouth, his dick disappearing and reappearing between those stretched out lips and growing harder by the minute.

He had to stop Dan, {Sorry, too close. Your mouth drives me insane. Let me suck you for a bit}, and they changed about, Dan’s legs wide open and lax as he was taken into that hot mouth and sucked until he, too, had to push Alan’s eager, slurping mouth away, muttering out loud, “Shit, babe, could’ve come in that gorgeous mouth but I want you inside me”, as he leaned forward and kissed Alan’s mouth still so full of his own taste.

Alan crawled up Dan’s body before resting his whole weight on top of him as they kissed again. Dan wriggled, {Mmm, like your weight on top. Now fuck me. Open me up and take me. Make me wet and open for you and have me}, then he had to stop as he cried out when the first two fingers roughly shoved up inside him.

“Yessss”, he hissed and pressed down. Alan kissed him again and thrust up, this time with three fingers. Dan still bounced around on them, {Fuck me, Alan, take me, babe. Make me yours and only yours. Mark me with your mouth...}, and his thoughts were short-circuited by Alan doing exactly that.

He latched his mouth fiercely to Dan’s neck and sucked as he positioned himself then bit down as he thrust home and revelled in Dan’s loud cry as he was pierced at both ends, drawing blood with his teeth as his cock shoved deep into Dan’s arse. As soon as he was seated, Dan was inwardly screaming for, {More, you great bastard! Move! Fuck me! I wanna be fucked!}, and who was Alan to disobey a set of such explicit instructions? So he moved his thick dick in and out of his Danny and Dan cried out.

Encouraged by the noises, Alan moved again, thereby making Dan make more sounds and he was soon driving in and out of his lover, really putting his back into it, loving the responses that he received to his rough fucking as Dan arched up against him and Alan leaned over him, an arm around the small of his sweaty back, sucking a nipple as he fucked his lover, Danny pushing back onto his invading dick with passion and fervour. Bloody hell, this lad really wanted him: enough to marry him at two o’clock this afternoon. This thought only spurred Alan on as he drilled his lover until Dan shot thin white streams of come between them and Alan collapsed over Dan’s chest as he groaned and came deep within his lover after a few more short, deep thrusts.

Their kisses were slow and passionate in the aftermath. They both held tight to each other as the bond seemed to burn in their bellies. They kissed a lot and held a lot and gazed into each other’s eyes a lot until Sleep claimed them again. Before they slipped under, Dan had the foresight to set his wand-alarm, grinning as he set it to one o’clock. They didn’t need two hours to get ready!

So of course they leapt out of bed and rushed and collided when the alarm went then slowed down and kissed when Alan reminded them both in deep tones that, {This wedding will not happen without its main protagonists, Danny, so slow down. This will happen at the speed it is meant to}, and Dan took the time to thoroughly kiss his husband-to-be so hard that the man gasped and clutched his lover’s arse and pressed the result of the kiss into his hip. So they were delayed an hour or so! No-one was worrying save Dumbledore and Remus Lupin, gathered early for the celebrations.

They pelted down the corridors and up the steps fetching up at the door to the Great Hall all out of breath. They smoothed each other down and Dan had to re-tie Alan’s ponytail and got their breath back then faced each other and smiled. {I really want this, Alan. I hope you want this as much as I do}. Leaning down slightly to kiss him, Alan’s mind murmured, {Now and forever, Danny. Now let’s go in and do the deed}.

There were smiles all round as they entered the Hall to find their witnesses, Dumbledore and one of the Order chaps who was to act as recorder. Some attempt had been made at festivity by a few lush swags of flowers decorating the tables and a clean white cloth was draped over the headmaster’s dais. The reading and joining was mercifully short. Alan and Dan faced each other and joined hands at Dumbledore’s instruction while the witnesses came up one by one and vouched for the two men, the headmaster declared them wed under wizarding statute and that the grooms could now kiss.

There were no flashing lights, no magic ribbons, no blue glows, misty or otherwise, no celestial choirs – the lights didn’t even dim but Dan still saw fireworks behind his eyes as Alan kissed him and he purred contentedly as his lips parted, inviting his now-husband’s tongue out to play. Alan was playing out and the kiss grew hotter until there was a low cheer from behind them that brought them back to some semblance of reality. Blushing and grinning, they put each other down and smiled shyly then turned away from their charmed circle of two to nod and acknowledge the congratulations all around them.

On a crisp linen cloth, the elves served up a sumptuous late lunch along with masses of cool summer berries in ice bowls charmed to stay frozen and plenty of wine and champagne, then the Hall was thrown open for the rest of the occupants of the school to be told that the pair had just bonded. They smiled and had their hands shaken numerous times. More alcohol appeared.

Aside from the few out on patrol, everyone else proceeded to get drunk, although there were plenty of phials of sober-up potion on hand should an emergency arise. Hermione nipped off to get her laptop and speakers and had music up and going in short order. At some point she muttered to Dan, “Did you read the rest of the story?” Dan shook his head, “No, turns out the author was bullying my own sister – using her internet account to post it, cheeky bugger, so Alan and I decided we would go it alone and pay no heed at all to her story. She was bound to write at least me a sticky end as she hates me and my sister, oh, it’s a long story”, his heart ached when he thought of his ‘big day’ and the lack of his family to witness it.

She saw the look and said, “We’ll have to be your family now, Dan. Us here at Hogwarts and your new husband. We like you Dan, even though we don’t know you well....oh, and we definitely like your new hubby. He’s a peach, isn’t he?” Dan grinned, “Did you expect him to be...er...like Snape?”

Hermione shrugged, “I suppose so. If he was bringing over actors...”, she left the rest unsaid, “Then we were supposed to act more like them, but we’re actors, Hermione, not wizards – well we are now but you know what I mean. Shit, how did Harry know to come and swap us for them?”

She turned thoughtful and looked off into the middle distance. She was silent a long while, “He despised himself for being normal you know, particularly after such a special task had been assigned particularly to him. He knew he needed to be special in order to finish off Voldemort, who’s been sucking power out of anything that moves for years now. He needed more power and he didn’t have it”, Hermione’s hazel eyes bored into Dan’s. Dan frowned slightly but didn’t break their gaze, she was trying to get him to see something, something he had to see on his own.

He was baffled and his frown deepened, “Sorry, Hermione, please stop trying to ‘transmit’. I’m not reading you except the glare”. She relented and her smile was lop-sided, “Dan, how much of Harry’s journal have you actually read?” Dan huffed out a breath, “Not much, I told you I wasn’t much of a reader, but I’m scanning it as PDF’s so Alan can read it instead of me. Why?”

She breathed deep and was glad that they were both seated. She continued, “Okay, fair enough, so I suppose you haven’t got to the bit where Harry realises who his real soul-mate is, I take it?” Dan’s eyes widened, “No”. She shook her head, “It was just before they disappeared. I told you that Harry and Snape didn’t have a bond, yeah?” Dan nodded, a feeling of foreboding taking up lodging in his chest, “Yeah?”, he pulled out the vowels slowly. “Well, Harry’s soul mate was right here in this school, I think that was the main reason that he decided to go”.

Dan scowled, “So, Snape wasn’t Harry’s soul-mate, but someone else here was?”. She nodded slowly. Closing his eyes a moment, he darkly intoned, “Dare I ask who?” She nodded and realised he couldn’t see it. She leaned forwards and whispered something over the din directly into his ear and he started, butting their heads by accident, “No way!”, he exclaimed, loud enough for others to turn their heads.

Alan, sensing the unease in his new husband was at his side in a breath, {What is it, lover of mine?} Dan whipped his head around fast enough to butt heads with his new husband, “Ow! Crap, love, sorry”, he backed away and they rubbed at their skulls before Alan re-iterated his question and Dan groaned, {Seems like Harry ran to get away from his soul-mate. He loved Severus Snape and loathed his so-called soul-mate and that’s the real reason he was prepared to give up his magic and everything. He wasn’t a coward, well, not much of one, he gave it all up for love. Real love. And the man he wanted to be soul-mates with wasn’t the man that actually was. The weird thing is that the soul-mate is wandering around in our world probably without a clue that Harry is in fact dead. I pity the poor bastard, actually. Hermione says he used to stalk them and spy on them all the time}.

After a long silence, Alan said, “I presume we are talking about Draco Malfoy?” Dan nodded. After another protracted silence, Dan sniggered, “Thank god it’s really you who are my soul-mate. I nearly fell in love with Tom. Well, you know that, but the thought occurs to me, would we have discovered maybe a sort of milder version of the bond had we continued to see each other in London, say?”

He looked quite serious but Alan smiled, “Even after one short time with you, Dan, I think I’d have found a way to see you again. I really do, love, I was quite besotted with you then”, he dropped into telepathy, {And once I’d had a taste of you, I knew I wanted more. I have oft times wondered if we....wished this upon ourselves somewhat}

Dan looked quite shocked {Bloody hell, I’ve wondered that, too...}, but just then they were interrupted by the diffident cough of the recorder who drew Dan and Alan off into a private room, excusing themselves from the present company, they followed him into an ante-room of the Great Hall.

It was here that they signed the register and paid over the few Galleons for their license. The recorder twittered, “You know you are only considered bound in the wizarding world? If you wish to be recognised under British Civil Law then you will have to be Civilly Partnered as well. If you make a wizarding will, however, then your assets will be divided under the statutes under which you bonded and thereby according to your wishes as bonded wizards. Should you wish to do such a thing then I can make my services available for a very competitive fee. However for now, I will take this and register you with the Ministry. As you have obviously chosen to go under your given names, it will not raise any eyebrows nor yet alert those blood-hungry press-hounds that dogged, and I mean the pun most emphatically, Harry’s every step. However, should the Press get wind of this, and they undoubtedly will, then you need to put some sort of contingency in place. I suggest retaining your real names and disappearing into the wilds of Outer Mongolia when all this is over”.

Dan laughed and shook the man’s hand, “You know, we might just do that very thing. Don’t think we haven’t thought about it. Thank you for being able to conduct our service on such short notice”. The recorder patted Dan’s hand as he withdrew his own, nearly fainting from the intensity of magic he’d felt roaring up his arm from his palm. He let out a blown breath, “I think you two will be just fine. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do. Thank you too, gentlemen. Have a wonderful life together. I will bid you adieu and see you at the Order meeting on Tuesday”, and with that, he stepped over to the fire, ignited it with his wand, grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the clay jar on the mantel and was off with their signed papers in his hand.

Alone at last, Dan moved to Alan as Alan moved to Dan. They smiled at each other and spent a moment just looking. Then Dan laughed and held his arms open and Alan, starting his own low chuckle fell into them, to be wrapped up and held, then kissed for Britain.

They did think about locking and warding the door but there was a knock before too long and Ron’s voice saying, “Is everything all right in there? I’m gonna count to ten and then I’m coming in, so do up your pants or whatever, we can’t be too careful when there’s a war on....”, but he was cut off by the door opening and Alan and Dan appearing blinking at the brighter light in the corridor.

There was dancing then and everyone cheered when the newlyweds took each other into their arms and led off the dancing to some light, old-fashioned tunes that Hermione had on her hard drive before rockier and more modern music began to feature on the playlist and the dancing assumed wilder proportions. At that point Alan dipped out and went to sit down, leaving his new husband still out on the dance-floor with a few of his new cronies.

He watched and smiled and sipped his drink. Dan really was quite a dancer. He moved his body freely and sinuously to the music, seemingly lost in his own world until the track changed to something more boisterous, his eyes opened again and he joined in, leaping about with the rest of the younger crowd. It made Alan simultaneously happy and sad.

He didn’t have long to think on it, however before he felt movement at his left side and looked up to see Minerva McGonagall slipping into the vacant seat beside him.

He smiled at her and faced front again, totally lost in the sight of his Danny dancing. She said, quite close to his ear, “He is intoxicatingly powerful, isn’t he?” Alan whipped his head round, “Yes. Yes he is but I’m not Severus Snape, I did not marry my Danny for his magic, powerful or otherwise. I married him for love. I have never wed before...”, he began but she cut him off with a wave of her hand, “We know that, Alan, and, believe me, it was a bit of a sticking point, your lack of commitment, but you seem to have got past that and married our Harry – sorry, Dan. I am terribly pleased for you”.

They watched the dancers until Minerva said, “Harry also decided on love rather than expediency. It led him from this world. Of course Severus went with him, he wouldn’t hear of Harry going by himself, despite the fact that Harry was the better muggle of the two of them but we never thought it would actually happen, that they would disappear but they did. They had us over a barrel, Mr Rickman, they had us over a bloody barrel and there wasn’t a damned thing we could do about it, even if they didn’t have a bond. No, instead they had a plan”.

Alan didn’t quite know what to say to this so stayed quiet. He was saved by Dan coming off the dancefloor, saying a cursory hello to their table-mate before dropping himself adroitly into Alan’s lap as if he belonged there and leaning in to kiss him. Alan simply couldn’t help the arm that snaked around his younger lover, drawing him closer as the kiss blazed a trail from chaste to feral. He tuned out all the noise and concentrated on his new mate, currently wriggling in his lap and kissing him like there was no tomorrow. He smiled around the tongue in his mouth, he was going to love being married to ‘Harry Potter.’

After another glass of champagne, the music slowed and the lights went low for the ‘smoochers’, Hermione busy building a little playlist before escorting her girlfriend onto the dance floor. Alan followed, leading Dan by the hand. By now, both were somewhat inebriated so were quite content to hold each other and sway and kiss, letting all of their cares fade into the background for now and just enjoyed the music and each other held close.

The enchanted ceiling was awash with the rose of early dawn before the party finally broke up and Alan and Dan were wished joy and happiness in final toasts before they took their leave, staggering, laughing and kissing all the way back to the dungeons.

Too drunk to do much more than frot and rub furiously against each other, they nonetheless achieved a satisfactory and sticky end, staying close until they threatened to become permanently welded together. When they finally parted Dan performed the requisite charms.

He didn’t mind when Alan fell asleep first, quite content to hold his....husband.....god, the notion was still weird, tight, kissing his hair and grinning his head off in the dark. Loosening his hand from Alan’s waist, he cast a lazy ‘tempus’, he had been 21 for a whole four hours.

Finishing the spell, he replaced his hand and rolled towards Alan, settling for sleep. Almost there, he heard a faint noise and listened. There it was again. It took Dan a few moments to pull himself back from the brink of sleep but he knew that sound: his phone and there was only one person with his number and she was ringing him at four in the morning. With a sigh, he untangled himself from Alan and padded into the living room.

Sure enough his phone flashed blue on the mantel and he brought up a low light to see by. The machine no longer rang but he flicked it open; a missed call and a text message from his sister. He opened it,

‘Dan, uve gt 2 rd ur eml. URGENT!!! I’v fnd D Mlfy. C xx P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUV’