Gossip {Sherlock Holmes/Harry Potter}

Chapter Forty Nine

Sherlock glanced down at Pierce who's body finally fell still on the ground, however, he made no sounds or acknowledgment that he was alright. Judging by the blood that was spilled on the ground and stained his clothing,  it seemed Moriarty's torturous ways had been inflicted on the boy for quite some time. As soon as they entered the maze, it didn't take long for Sherlock and John to locate Pierce's whereabouts as they could hear the boy's screaming.

Sherlock had always been fast on his feet, but even during those moments, he was certain he set a new record. Not wanting to keep his focus off of Moriarty for too long, he turned around to face the derange man, standing in front of Pierce's body as John was at the teenager's side trying to tend to him.

"I'm so glad you could join us finally." Moriarty said as soon as he was back on his feet. "Pierce and I were beginning to wonder if you would ever show. But look at you, learning to be a father. Good on you."

"You put his name, just to get me here, you couldn't think of a better way?" Sherlock asked him. "You had to bring in an innocent child into the mix."

"Well of course I did, did you forget who I am?" Moriarty smiled at him. "And it worked didn't it? You're here. It all worked out quite well if I say so myself. I thought we were going to have a couple of run ins, maybe some bumps in the road, but this has all been so smooth sailing. Kinda takes the fun out of it a little."

He suddenly pouted, catching Sherlock off guard as he unleashed another spell on Pierce who cried out in John's arms.

"Stop it!" Sherlock demanded. "You don't have a quarrel with him, you have it with me! Leave him alone."

"You see, that takes even more fun out it. The whole purpose of putting Pierce's name in the Goblet was so that you would actually learned to care about someone other than yourself. I wanted you two to develop that special father and son relationship, where Pierce turns to you rather than running off to John all the time. No offense to you, John. You make a wonderful mother-"

"You go to hell!" John spat at him as he tried to soothe Pierce's pain.

"Shh, John, there is a child present. Where have your manners vanished to? Anyways, back to the topic, my plan worked, because you became a father. The boy is in his mid teens, but it's better late than never, right? And look how close you two have become. You care about him...you're here because of him. You understand how to love someone, Sherlock and it's a beautiful thing."

Sherlock stared at Moriarty before glancing over his shoulder at Pierce and John. John's clothing was covered in blood as Pierce's wounds refused to mend while others kept appearing all over his body.

"And now that you've experienced it, you understand the joys that come with it...I'm going to take that away from you." Moriarty said. "I'm going to make you regret wasting anytime you could have spent with him, now that you know that Pierce is such a delight to be around. Well, was such a delight to be around. "

"You'll be doing no such, I'm here now! I'm not going to let you do anything to him."

"You don't realize, Sherlock, it's already been done. He's been suffering while poor John struggles to help him, but can't seem to find the solution. You're going to watch your son die and you will live with that for the rest of your life."

Conflicted on whether to fight Moriarty or tend to his son, Sherlock looked back and forth between the two. John seemed to be trying to do anything possible to help Pierce as the boy's crying faded and he fell completely silent in John's hold.

"It's your choice." Moriarty told him with a shrug. "But while you're thinking about it, I'm going to go for a stroll."

"No, you stay right there!" Sherlock tried to subdue the man with his wand, but Moriarty was quick to deflect the spells.

"Pierce?! PIERCE?" John yelled in the boy's face trying to get the boy to open his eyes back up. "No, wake up, come on. Stay with me. Sherlock, forget about him!" 

John took his eyes off Pierce for a few seconds to look at his partner. He could see the internal debate Sherlock was having with himself on whether to go after Moriarty in the maze or stay and try to help.

"Pierce needs you to be with him. Let him go!" John said. 

Sherlock took a step in the same direction of Moriarty but at the last minute, he removed his jacket and carefully slipped it over Pierce's body. The boy was cold, pale, and unresponsive. His wounds weren't healing and the pool of blood beneath him set Sherlock into a panic.

He took his son's body from John's arms and made his way towards the exit. John sat in surprise for a few moments at Sherlock's decision to help his son rather than going after his enemy.

With no other concerns on his mind, Sherlock looked down to Pierce as the boy was lifeless in his arms.

"Don't you even think about dying on me, do you hear me? I might be new to this whole father thing, but I swear, I'll ground you-"

He stopped and grimaced.

"Alright, that was in poor taste. My apologies. Pierce?"