Chapter Text
[ClClClCl]
“Think what a vial of blood could do,” the hooded figure hissed, stroking the Qilin’s golden fur through the iron bars of its cage.
And, oh, Caelum thought of it. He imagined all the rare potions he and Asya could brew together, the experiments they could work on.
It had been centuries since any ingredients sourced from Qilins were available. A vial of its blood could be enough to revolutionize the modern potions world.
But he looked at the creature’s sad green eyes and all he could think of was Potter.
Then he thought of himself. That Qilin had been raised in captivity, mistreated since birth, waiting for someone to save him.
Caelum’s hands trembled as he wrote out the information for his parents’ account—he could barely afford the vial of blood, let alone the entire creature—and lifted the Qilin’s cage.
He apparated to the first place he could think of that was safe.
Rafa wheeled out of the kitchen, and though he’d barely blinked at Caelum’s appearance, he yelped when he noticed the Qilin.
“Asya!” Rafa yelled, not looking away from where the Qilin paced in its cramped cage. “Your Sunshine brought home a dragon!”
Asya’s voice drifted from the bedroom as she called, “You won’t fool me; there’s no way he’s got a dragon.”
“It’s not a dragon!” Caelum snorted. “It’s a Qilin.”
Asya walked out of the bedroom, her hair soaked and freshly dyed in a pale, silvery blue like moonlight frost. “See, it’s not a dragon, it’s—I’m sorry, it’s a what?”
Caelum waved a hand at the cage and shrugged. “A Qilin.”
“What.”
Caelum shrugged and gestured again at the Qilin.
Asya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Sunshine, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but what the fuck?”
Rafa moved closer, frowning as he raised a hand and asked, “Uh, what’s a Qilin?”
Caelum pointed. “This is a Qilin.”
Asya lightly smacked Caelum’s arm with a scoff. “Be nice.” She turned to her fiancé and explained, “It’s one of the rarest magical creatures out there. I don’t know how Caelum managed to get one, but… It’s amazing.”
“Glad you like it,” Caelum said. “I need you to take it.”
Asya spluttered, waving her arms as she said, “Whoa—what? Caelum, my lease; I can’t have pets!”
“You think I can?” he asked incredulously. “I can’t keep a Qilin!”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have bought a Qilin!”
“I couldn’t just leave it there!”
Asya groaned and ran a hand through her wet blue hair. “I… You need to find someone who can take care of it.”
Caelum looked at the Qilin, its bright green eyes sparkling curiously. As he stared into the creature’s eyes, a thought occurred to him.
“Potter!” he gasped, snapping his fingers. “That’s it; it’s perfect. It’ll be my apology; she’ll forgive anything for a Qilin.”
“Uh, Sunshine…” Asya and Rafa both stared at him with suspicious, narrowed eyes. She continued. “That’s not really…”
But Caelum apparated out of the flat before she could finish.
[ClClClCl]
The baby Qilin had pissed on him.
Caelum yanked at his hair as he paced back and forth in the room at the Hog’s Head, hoping Potter would show.
Someone knocked on the door, and the Qilin trilled curiously as Caelum stood to answer it, sighing with relief when he saw Potter standing there
“You came.”
The Qilin brushed against Caelum’s legs like an affectionate cat, and Potter looked down at it, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
“Get inside.” He yanked her into the room and slammed the door shut before the Qilin could wander off or someone could come through the hall.
Potter slowly circled the Qilin, which watched her closely and made a soft chiming noise. Potter pressed a hand to her mouth as she gasped delicately.
“Lestrange… What are you doing with a baby Qilin?”
“It’s a long story.” He sat on the bed and picked up the Qilin, cradling it gently and scratching its head. “I found him on the black market.”
Potter glared at him fiercely, and he blanched.
“I don’t normally deal in such things anymore,” he told her, feeling as though this apology was already off to a bad start. “When I saw him, I…this is ridiculous, but I heard your self-righteous voice in my head. I knew you wouldn’t want it killed for parts.”
And it reminded me of myself. I didn’t want it to be hurt like I’ve been.
“I—I bought it,” he finished. “On my parents’ credit. For you.”
More for himself, actually, but telling Potter that seemed like a poor apology.
“For…me.” Potter wasn’t as enthused as he’d hoped.
Caelum stroked the Qilin, smiling softly when it leaned against his hand. “Maybe I needed a reason to speak to you. I’ve been wanting to… apologize.”
“You… illegally acquired me one of the rarest creatures in the world to apologize for helping a violent extremist make a potion using my own technique that trapped my good friend and contributed to the unraveling of a ruse that upended my life. Am I getting that right?”
When she put it like that, it sounded absurd.
“It wasn’t my first plan,” he said, his shoulders curling inwards.
Potter ranted at him for a few minutes, waving her arms as she yelled, “And now we have an illegal Qilin!”
We.
Caelum stared at her hopefully.
She yelled at him some more. He yelled back.
She eventually forgave him.
And she took the Qilin.
[ClClClCl]
Caelum stood in his bedroom, looking in the floor-length mirror as he brushed a piece of lint off his dress robes.
The robes were a shade of blue so dark it was nearly black, with silver trim around the hem, sleeves, and neckline. He’d bought them especially for Asya’s wedding—while he had several dress robes already, he’d worn all of them to various pureblood events with his parents, for an event as important as this, he wanted to be absolutely free of his life in Britain.
He combed his hair back, casting a quick spell to gel it in place, then looked at his silver pocketwatch and sighed with a small smile. Asya had asked him to arrive at her flat a few hours before the ceremony began—she wanted her best friend with her as she got ready.
Caelum’s door burst open.
He yelped and jumped backwards at the sight of his mother storming through the doorway, and within a moment, she had him pinned to the wall, the tip of her wand digging sharply into his throat until he wheezed for breath.
“What have you done, you conceited boy?” she hissed, and Caelum tried not to flinch at the spittle that landed across his face. “You worthless, greedy little bastard.”
Caelum scowled up at her. “Be more specific, please,” he drawled. Both satisfaction and fear bloomed in his chest at the way her face turned dark fuchsia, her eyes darkening with rage.
“I went to Gringotts today. What. Have. You. Done. With. The. Money.” She jabbed her wand with every word, making Caelum’s eyes water as he barely suppressed a choking cough. “A large sum disappeared from our vaults this summer. Your father apparently thought it was me when he read the invoice, and never questioned anything.” She cackled and shook her head until a few tangled, greasy curls fell into her face. “Answer me, Caelum. What did you buy?”
“Nothing,” he said, breaking off in a groan when she lifted her hand to his throat and squeezed, her fingernails digging sharply into his skin.
She pulled her wand away, and Caelum’s breath hitched when he recognized what spell her swirling movement would cast.
He pulled on the chain of his legally-dubious portkey and wrapped his hand around the pendant.
One…
Two…
“What is that?” Bellatrix snapped, abandoning her spell as she lunged towards Caelum.
Five…
She yanked the chain, pulling the portkey out his grip and flinging it across the room. “I don’t know what you’re trying, but—”
Seven.
The portkey disappeared.
Without Caelum.
“Crucio!”
His last thought before the curse hit him was that he was going to miss Asya’s wedding.
[ClClClCl]
Caelum lay slumped against the wall, his limbs still twitching with agony. His mother’s taunts sounded blurred and faraway over the sound of his raw screams.
Caelum tried to open his eyes, but his vision merely spun in a bright burst of colors as another jolt of pain wracked his body. He blinked away some of the flashing lights as he gasped for breath, his chest aching as it heaved.
He was bleeding. That was odd. He couldn’t recall Bellatrix cutting him before she started the Cruciatus, and the curse didn’t create any actual physical injuries.
The blood on his arm was dripping from shakily-written words, which surprised Caelum enough that he tried to sit up, until his mother shouted another curse and Caelum’s vision turned entirely black.
But he’d seen enough to make out the words.
I’M COMING
[HpHpHpHp]
Harry sat at the dining room table, leaning over a dry history book and trying not to fall asleep.
She didn’t particularly like her parents’ version of homeschooling.
A flash of color outside the window caught Harry’s attention, and she watched Sirius run around with a jack o’ lantern over his head, waving his arms as he chased Remus around the yard.
Harry coughed as something irritated her throat, and she took a sip of pumpkin juice, but it didn’t seem to clear the tightness.
Several small pricks of pain stung across her neck, and Harry inhaled sharply as she felt ten small curved indentations along her thoat.
“Stay safe,” she whispered as she always did.
Her entire body burst into flames, her skin seeming to rip as her arms and legs twitched and Harry screamed.
The next thing she knew, her entire family—minus Archie, who was at AIM—was surrounding her.
Lily cradled Harry’s head in her lap, soothingly brushing Harry’s hair off her forehead, while James held her hand, his free hand holding his wand up like he was going to attack whatever had hurt Harry. Remus and Sirius were both crouched at her feet, and Harry almost wanted to laugh when she saw Sirius was still wearing the pumpkin, but another wave of pain overtook her, and she shook and sobbed, choked whimpers and screams fighting past her clenched teeth.
When the pain ebbed momentarily, Harry whispered, “She’s hurting him. Let me go.”
“Just stay still, Fawn,” James murmured, swiping his thumb over her knuckles. “A mediwitch is on their way, you’ll be okay.”
“He needs help.”
“Is this from your soulmate, Harry?” Remus asked hesitantly.
Harry nodded jerkily, gasping as the movement shot pain down her spine. This was worse than the resonance.
“Caelum—she’s, she’s torturing him, I need to…”
“Caelum?” Sirius broke in, lifting the pumpkin off his head. His face was pale. “Bella’s kid?”
Harry shrieked, curling into a fetal position and twitching miserably.
“He’s been alone,” she whispered when the pain dulled. “I need to help him.”
She tried to sit up, swaying and blinking hard when her vision erupted in a flash of pink, green, and white. Her parents both yelped and steadied her. Once the sparkles faded, Harry took a shallow breath and tried again.
She felt her magic growing restless, but she held it back—it wouldn’t do any good here.
Sirius tensed, looking at her warily and holding out his hands to catch her if she toppled over. “Harry, if you think you can fly—don’t you dare.”
Harry didn’t think she’d have the strength to shift.
“Okay, I won’t fly,” she muttered.
She envisioned Dartmoor Castle and twisted her body, ripping another scream from her lips as she apparated away.
[HpHpHpHp]
She was fairly certain she wasn’t at Dartmoor Castle.
Dartmoor Castle wasn’t in the middle of a forest.
Harry looked down at herself to make sure she hadn’t been splinched, and she sighed raggedly in relief when she found she was whole.
The ground seemed to dip and spin beneath her, so she leaned against a tree and tried to catch her breath.
She needed a minute to collect her focus if she was ever going to get to Caelum. In the meantime, she reached towards her boot, pulling out the tiny blade Leo had given her for her birthday.
Caelum was surely in twice as much pain as she was. He deserved to know he wasn’t alone.
She lifted the blade to her forearm and pressed its tip against her skin.
[HpHpHpHp]
When Harry finally arrived at the castle, she found another young woman already there, standing on the edge of the property, pounding on the wards with bloodied fists she screamed Caelum’s name.
Harry almost tripped on the long lacy train of the woman’s white gown as she moved closer, and she steadied herself on the woman’s shoulder.
“Who the hell are you?” the woman asked when she noticed Harry. Dark circles of wet, smeary kohl lined her bloodshot eyes, making her look half-dead. A wide headband of pearls sparkled over her royal purple hair, a veil of sheer tulle trailing down her back.
She looked like a ghost, and Harry wondered if the pain was making her hallucinate.
“I’m his soulmate,” she slurred, blinking woozily. “He’s hurt.”
The woman in the wedding gown stared at Harry as though she was a venomous snake. “You’re the Rigel Black Child?”
Before Harry could think of a response, pain shot through her stomach like a stab wound, and she slammed her hands against the castle door, her magic screaming within her.
She let her magic go.
The wards exploded in a flare of red light and a thunderous boom that shook the ground.
Both of them stood awestruck for a moment, before they took off running towards the castle and through the door. Harry stumbled behind the other woman, and she soon gave up trying to follow her, instead sending a thin trail of magic towards where she could sense Caelum’s core.
She took a deep breath and followed the glowing trail of magic through the twisting, maze-like corridors.
“Lestrange!” Harry cried, her voice cracking as another blast of pain shot through her shoulder blades and through the rest of her body. She lost her balance and fell against a cold stone wall, and she tasted blood.
She ran again, her legs half numb as she continued following her magic’s flickering trail.
Someone screamed.
“Caelum!” Harry screamed back.
Her path ended at a doorway, and with a wild cry and the last of her strength, she released her magic and watched it tear the door to tiny splinters of wood.
Harry’s vision flickered darkly, and she crumpled to the ground.
A sharp, agonized shriek came from behind her, and Harry felt a rush of air as someone ran past her into the room.
A few screams and dull thuds later, Harry’s pain eased, leaving her panting and choking for breath as she slowly sat up.
“Caelum?” she whispered, her eyelids heavy as she blinked until her vision cleared.
Bellatrix Lestrange lay on the floor, her face and hair streaked with blood.
A few feet away, the woman in the wedding gown sat on a plush red rug, cradling Caelum to her chest and stroking his hair, shakily singing a haunting song in a foreign language.
Harry gasped and crawled closer to them, reaching out.
“Is he—?”
The woman didn’t look at her, still frowning down at Caelum.
He was deathly pale, his lips parted slightly. He still twitched slightly, his eyelashes fluttering over his sharp cheekbones.
Harry lay down beside him and tangled her fingers in his.
[ClClClCl]
Asya was singing.
He liked when she sang.
Her fingers scratched soothingly along his scalp, her other hand gently squeezing his shoulder.
Caelum felt as though he was floating in her melody, numb and at peace—until he felt a third hand gripping his own.
He tensed, whimpering when it caused a shudder of pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to be over.
“You’re safe now,” someone murmured. It wasn’t Asya.
“You never cared before,” another voice—Asya this time—snapped. “You never…”
“I’ve always cared,” the other person said, their voice tinged with sadness. Their hand tightened slightly around his. “I was scared. Of so many things.”
Caelum felt Asya deflate beneath him
She whispered, “I understand that.”
“I’m here now,” the other voice replied.
Caelum opened his eyes, squinting in the light.
Asya’s blue-grey eyes blinked down at him, black tears of smeary kohl running down her face even as she broke into a grin. “Hi, Sunshine.”
Caelum groaned, then noticed her headband and veil. “Shit. Your wedding.”
Asya’s lips twisted wryly as she held up a familiar black pendant. “This appeared in my flat while I was getting dressed. You were supposed to come with the portkey.”
He opened his mouth to respond, then noticed the bruising beginning to form across Asya’s knuckles, rusty smears of dried blood on her fingers. “You’re hurt.”
“Your mother’s face looks worse, trust me.”
“You punched my mother?”
Asya smirked. “The shield from my amulet only lasted a few seconds. After that, I was so fucking pissed, I punched her in the mouth before she could get a curse out. I’ve been dreaming of doing that for years.”
Caelum’s lips twitched, almost smiling. He closed his eyes again and groaned. “Rafa, the wedding… You’re supposed to be getting married.”
“Rafa understands,” she said softly, brushing a lock of hair off his sweaty forehead. “You were in trouble. You’re his friend, Sunshine. We’ll reschedule; it was a small wedding anyway—my dress was the only extravagance.”
Caelum hummed. “You look beautiful.”
Someone cleared their throat.
Caelum turned his head, his neck aching at the movement, and his eyes widened when he saw Potter sitting there, staring at him with her uncannily-bright eyes.
Something red caught his attention, and he drew his gaze down to her arm, where blood slowly dripped from jagged wounds—words.
“It’s you,” he whispered, his voice blank as he stared at the words that had appeared on his own arm earlier that evening. “You’re my…”
She nodded.
“Then you’re Rigel…”
She nodded again.
“Blood identity theft.”
Potter sighed and ran her free hand through her hair. “Yes, if anyone finds out, I’ll go to Azkaban and be sentenced to a Kiss.”
“Then why would you reveal that?” Caelum hissed, staring at Potter—his soulmate; she’d been right there the entire time. He knew she wasn’t stupid, so why would she put her life at risk like this? “You should have stayed away from me.”
“You were hurt,” she said, her voice rough as she gestured at him. “You’re my soulmate, and you’re my friend, Caelum, however much you try to pretend you hate me. I’m tired of hiding.”
Caelum stared at her.
He used to dream that his soulmate would save him.
Now he had a soulmate and a best friend.