Harry hit the ground hard, and again Draco caught him before he fell. His knees were a bit shaky as he sank onto a nearby chair that looked like it was older than time, and it creaked at every slight shift that Harry made.
Draco looked at him with concern, “You alright there, Harry?”
“Yeah… yeah, just go get Ron and Hermione.”
Draco kneeled down before Harry, lying his hands on Harry’s knees, “You trust me don’t you?”
Harry looked up, and laid one of his hands on Draco’s, “’Course I do, not so sure that they do, but I guess they’re going to have to.”
“Right.” said Draco, “Be right back.”
He stood up, turned on the spot and in the swish of a cloak he was gone. Harry looked around the dark and drab flat; he could definitely imagine Snape living here. What was curious though, is why Snape had let Draco use it. As far as Harry could tell, favored students usually got better grades, and more attention; not being the secret keeping for the professor’s home.
Even though his knees were still a bit shaky, Harry stood up and walked around the room. The paint on the walls was peeling, though Harry could tell that before it might have been a deep green. The floors creaked with every step Harry took; he peeked into a room that’s door was open. The paint in here was peeling to, and there was an inch of dust on the old, four poster bed. It looked like it might have been grand in it’s younger years, though now it certainly hadn’t been slept in for ages. Harry was starting to get nervous.
There was a loud crash in the living room, and a muffled yell; Harry ran into the room and saw Draco and Ron wrestling on the floor.
“Gerroff me!” said Ron through the commotion. Draco pushed Ron off of himself and threw him onto the floor; Ron fell back and landed on a table that broke from the weight.
Harry rushed to Ron’s side, and pulled him up, “What the hell?”
Ron looked at Harry in surprise, “Harry… oh, you’re here.”
“Yeah, he’s here you damn psychopath, now I’ve got to go get Granger before she tries to run.”
And again, Draco turned on the spot and disappeared.
“I thought he had taken you to you-know-who, Harry. What’s going on? All of the sudden you trust Malfoy?”
“It’s complicated Ron, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Please, help me understand Harry. Were in Snape’s house, Malfoy’s supposedly helping us, you-know-who risked putting his Death Eaters in the school to get you, and you don’t think there’s anything wrong!”
Harry was getting frustrated, he didn’t know what was going on either, but he didn’t want to consider Ron being right. Whatever Draco was doing, he was sure there was a reason for it.
Harry sat down on a moldy couch and looked around. The flat looked like it only had one bedroom; other than that there was a small kitchen, a sitting room with little furniture and a fireplace, and the hallway that led to the bedroom and a small bathroom. There were no lights in the house, and Harry didn’t know if he could risk using magic to light a fire.
Ron stepped over the broken wood on the ground and sat beside Harry.
“You honestly trust him then?” he asked, shooting a sideways glance at Harry.
Harry paused for a moment, “Yeah, I guess I do.”
Just then Draco appeared with a struggling Hermione. She fought him off and looked around.
“Oh thank heavens, your both here.” She said, and ran to Ron and Harry, grabbing them both around the necks nearly crushing them.
Draco looked at the scene but didn’t say anything. He was obviously restraining for a snide remark because he turned around and sat at the kitchen table. Hermione finally let go of Ron and Harry and turned to look at Draco.
“Now that we’re here, would you mind explaining all this?” Hermione asked, and sat down between Harry and Ron.
Draco sat down on one of the chairs, and looked lost in thought. When he did speak it was quietly, and he didn’t look at the others.
“The Dark Lord wants Harry, obviously. But he especially wanted to get Harry out of the school; Severus and I have been planning this since we were told of Voldemort’s plan. What I don’t know though,” he paused, and glanced at Harry, “is why Voldemort is so determined to get Harry out of Hogwarts. He’s taken some major risks to pull this off, especially after last year when I failed to…” his voice trailed off oddly.
“Snape is in on this?” said Ron, “Why would he want to help us?”
“He doesn’t want to help you, Weasley.”
Ron ignored this.
“So he wants to help me then?” said Harry, “I doubt that.”
“Well don’t; as far as I know we’re going to be cooped up in here until we hear from Snape-”
“Or someone from the Order.” Hermione interrupted.
“Yes I suppose they’ll know by now too.”
Harry heard a loud grumble coming from Ron’s stomach.
“Is there any food in this place?” Ron asked, looking around the dark, and drab flat; his eyes found the kitchen and it didn‘t look as thought he held much hope.
Harry could tell that the old, peeling paint on the walls were concealing stone which did nothing for the cold that was seeping through, into the house. Draco shrugged his shoulders, and Ron stood up and entered the kitchen area. After a few moments of rummaging through the shelves and the cream yellow refrigerator, he had stale bread, and a large hunk of cheese in his hands.
Hermione looked at Harry nervously, and then joined Ron in the kitchen. They both sat with their back to the sitting room; huddled together not even trying to conceal the fact that they were whispering feverishly to each other.
Draco and Harry’s eyes met; the cold stone gray that was Draco’s was oddly diminished, as though no light would every shine in them again. Despite Harry’s uncertainness, and the mounting fear that was steadily rising in his chest, Harry locked their gaze; furiously trying to let Draco know that what ever happened, he was going to be there.
Surprisingly, Draco nodded as if understanding. Briefly Harry remembered the same feeling of his mind being read last year, when having to study Occulmens with Snape.
The moon was high in the sky as the four young students laid in the sitting room; Ron and Hermione on the floor. Hermione had fallen asleep on Ron’s shoulder, and although he looked quite pleased with this, he also looked uncomfortable. Harry and Draco were sitting on either sides of the small couch, not looking at each other. The four of them had been silent for most of the night; Harry thought that it had to be around four in the morning.
“Ron, why don’t you take Hermione into the bedroom. She can sleep in there and the three of us will bunk out here.” Said Harry, yawning widely.
Neither Harry or Draco had said anything, but as the night had gone on Draco had started responding inaudibly to Harry’s thoughts; he would nod if he agreed, or shake his head every so slightly if he didn’t agree.
As Ron gently shook Hermione awake and half carried her into the bedroom, Draco stood up and crossed the room to a pantry that Harry hadn’t noticed. From it Draco produced four or five thick blankets, and laid all but one onto the floor. He then took the remaining blanket and spread it onto the couch.
Ron came back into the room yawning wider than Harry. He covered his mouth, and said something that Harry and Draco didn’t catch.
Harry stood up and offered the couch to Ron. He mumbled a thanks and fell onto the moldy covers without even bothering to kick his shoes off.
Draco was leaning against the wall opposite the fire place, and Harry stood shivering, opposite Draco. They looked at each other momentarily, and then both made their way to the blankets on the floor, which were laid quite close together. They both sat down, their eyes locking again.
“Do you think we could use magic here? I mean, shouldn’t the Fidelius Charm block the Ministry from ‘tracing’ us?”
“Yeah, that’s how it works. They can’t detect magic here.” said Draco. He looked inquiringly at Harry, “Why?”
“I’m freezing.” replied Harry sleepily.
Draco retrieved his wand from his pocket, and lazily flicked it towards the grate which instantly roared with flames. Ron gave a loud snort, and seconds later began snoring loudly. From the hallway where the bedroom door was open, Harry could hear Hermione’s quiet snores that were barley more than heavy breathing.
Draco pulled the covers out from under himself, and Harry did the same. They lay there silently as minutes droned by, neither wanting to speak; to give light to the situation at hand. Finally Harry sat up abruptly, and Draco looked at him quizzically.
“Whas’ a matter?” he asked.
“I just don’t get it. I mean why would Snape want to help me? I can understand why he would want to help you, but definitely not me. And why would Voldemort try to capture me from school? What’s so important that he had to get me out of there, and risk doing it right under the whole staff’s noses?”
Draco sighed and he pulled Harry down on top of him. Harry’s heart started beating furiously, and an odd feeling in his stomach started to erupt as Draco combed his hands through Harry’s messy hair. Harry started to run his fingers along Draco’s arm, and shut his eyes tightly. Whatever mess he was in, this moment was worth the trouble.
“I wish I could tell you Harry, but Severus has kept a lot from me. All he told me was what to do; not why.”
“Well that I can believe.”
“Mmm.”
Draco slowly nodded off; they had tried to stay up so that they could talk privately but both of them were simply to tired. Harry started to nod off, listening to the steady rhythm of Draco’s heartbeat.
Sometime during the night the two boys had separated. Harry awoke the next morning to a chilly wind that had blown through the broken window above the couch; on which Ron still laid asleep. He looked to his left: Draco wasn’t there. He looked up and saw Draco sitting at the kitchen table reading the Daily Prophet.
“Morning.” said Harry. He looked through the window and saw the sun was still low, casting orange and pinkish hues all throughout the sky.
“How’d you get that?” Harry asked awkwardly. Last night had been great, to fall asleep in Draco’s arms but it was still weird for the two of them to be so close. Especially now, since they were going to be under the constant eye of Ron and Hermione.
Draco set the paper down and rubbed his eyes. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, as it couldn’t be to early.
“Nicked it out of a bin, this is a mostly magical community. I used your cloak.” Draco said. He reached into his pocket and handed the cloak over to Harry, who took it and ran the silky material through his hands.
“Oh… listen er… last night,” Harry began. He wasn’t quite sure what to say though. They’d never talked about any sort of romantic relationship
Draco looked uncomfortable, “Sorry Harry, I just… well it’s no secret that we like each other, you know?”
Harry looked at Draco, surprised at his bluntness. It wasn’t really a secret, with the way that they were around each other, but it was still a bit awkward to think about being with a boy…
“Well no, it’s not. But don’t you think, I mean, I’ve never been with another guy.”
“I haven’t either.” said Draco softly, staring holes into the table surface. They were both red faced, and staring anywhere but at each other.
Harry looked around the kitchen, it was dark and bleak and the appliances looked like they had been there for ages. There were many Muggle appliances, like a coffee maker and blender; neither looked like they had ever been used.
Draco stood up and left Harry at the table. He went into the bathroom rather quickly and Harry stared in the direction feeling more confused than ever. Draco didn’t return after a few minutes, and Harry stood up and examined the coffee maker.
After looking through all the cupboards he couldn’t find any coffee, or coffee filters to use. Deciding to go into town later on to get what they would be needing, under protection of the invisibility cloak, Harry went to the bathroom and knocked quietly on the door.
“Draco, you alright?”
“Fine, I’m fine.” came Draco’s drawling voice.
Harry stood before the door for a moment, then backed away and went back into the kitchen. Ron and Hermione were still asleep
by Guest Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:05 am
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