blood!
The Forbidden Forest had never exactly been Draco’a favorite place. Between the numerous magical beasts that he had absolutely no interest in ever encountering and the magical plants that were all somehow able to kill, Draco would have preferred to remain just investigating the perimeter.
When your partner is Harry Potter it seems there is no choice but to be brave. Potter had apparated them both directly into the forest, seemingly without concern.
“Look for anything out of the ordinary,” Potter instructed, leading Draco into the forest. “Apparently the attack happened near here on the Northwest end of the forest. If you see anything weird here keep note and we’ll look for it at the other crime scene where Mr. LaPorte was attacked.”
Draco silently nodded and scanned the forest. To be honest, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for. The forbidden forest looked like an enchanted forest where you should watch your back. Draco just followed Potter along the tree line not wanted to ask any stupid questions. It was mid-October but the air lacked it’a usual chill, instead the forest remained a muggy atmosphere and Draco began to feel the humidity causing him to sweat.
“Hey” Potter stopped suddenly and Draco nearly stumbled over trying to stop himself from crashing into the man, “ do werewolf transformations leave a magical signature?” Potter asked.
“Not to my knowledge,” Draco said after a moment, “magical signatures typically only come from a spell being cast.”
Potter nodded and pulled out his wand, muttering a quick spell. Instantly, the pair spotted a blue hazey trail beginning about five meters in front of them.
“Weird, I assume students are still not allowed in the forest, and I doubt they would be brave enough to travel this far.” Draco said, glancing at Potter. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was nibbling on his lip. A trickle of sweat slid down his face, and Potter wiped it away successfully causing his hair to stick to his face.
“Merlin, it’s hot.” Potter said, shrugging his robes off and casting a shrinking charm. He tucked the robe into his pocket. Draco stared at Potter trying to ignore the fact that his white undershirt was clinging to his body. It didn’t seem entirely professional for Potter to have removed his robes. “C’mon Malfoy, aren’t you hot?” Potter said, raising an eyebrow and smoothing out his wrinkled blue jeans.
“No.” Draco lied unbuttoning his robes and ignoring Potters scoff, “let’s follow that trail.” Draco stepped past Potter and began moving to the magical trail, careful to watch his step and avoid the magical plants. He hadn’t exactly smoothly changed the subject but Potter didn’t seem to care to press any further. Draco was just wearing a black tank top and black dress pants under his robe and there was no way Potter was going to see his tattoos. Or his scars.
As Draco got closer, he could see the apparent blue streaks that intertwined with eachother to form a haze.
“You know each spell has a specific magical signature,” Draco said, putting his hands on his hips, “I wish I could remember which spell-“
“It’s Obliviate.” Potter said from behind Draco, approaching from his right. Draco shot an impressed look at Potter before he could stop himself and Potter just shrugged. “I see this spell used in a lot of my cases, believe it or not.”
“So do you think Obliviate was used the night of the attack?”
“Well,” Potter ran his fingers through his hair, “the student who was attacked said Lauren went missing about ten minutes into their walk and then suddenly a giant creature was lunging at her.”
“So, she remembers everything?” Draco asked, frowning. Potter nodded, chewing on his lip once again. “But Lauren didn’t remember anything,” Draco said after a pause, “is it possible someone obliviated her?”
“It couldn’t have been Gracie, Obliviate is a difficult spell to master. And it’s a sixth year spell.”
“It must’ve been an outsider.” Draco shook his head, “this just gets more and more confusing.”
Potter opened his mouth, as if to speak, but he was interrupted by a rustling coming from above the pair. Immediately both of the men hand their wands in their hands and their eyes to the trees. Potter quickly took a step back and positioned his back to Draco, shifting back and forth slightly, brushing against Draco’s back ever time he shifted back. Even though it was through three layers of clothing, Draco nearly jumped at the touch.
“I hate this place.” Potter muttered, scanning the trees. It would have seemed paranoid to be so jumpy at the sound of rustling trees in a non magical forest. But every sign of life in the forbidden forest was a sign of a threat.
“It was your idea to come here, Potter.” Draco helpfully reminded the man.
“Shut up.” Potter said without any anger.
The trees rustled once again and both the men’s heads snapped to the direction of the noise. Long, black vines were emerging from the ground and snaking up the trees. Worse, the rustling had come from the vines spreading through the trees branches to be growing directly above the two man’s heads.
“VanHannigan Vines,” Draco breathed out quickly.
“Is that good or bad?”
“Also nicknamed HellFlame Flora.”
“Could’ve just said bad.” Potter said, stepping away, as if he was intent on just walking away.
“Don’t!” Draco tried to grab Potters arm, but the damage was done. He’d already moved too much and the Vines had spotted their prey. At lightning speed, the vines snatched Potter, twisting around his arms and chest. “Fucking idiot!” Draco shouted.
“Shit,” Potter breathed out, his wand falling from his grip as the vines grew too tight. A moment later the vines were lifting him from the ground and pulling him towards the tree tops. “Malfoy!”
VanHannigan Vines were carnivorous but it didn’t seem like the optimal time for mentioning that so instead, Draco tried to subtly raise his wand to free Potter but even that movement had caught the attention of the vines.
Within seconds, Draco was also being pulled up by the vines. They were twisting around his arms, throat, and chest. The black vines were covered in red thorns that tore at Draco’s pale skin.
Draco swore internally as he dropped his wand because of the thorns digging into his wrist. His chest and arms were relatively safe, protected by the thick robe he wore but Potter already had dark red blood staining his white shirt.
“Potter-“ Draco choked out, the act of speaking forcing thorns even further into his throat, “stop…moving.”
Potter let out a grunt and continued to struggle against the vines, which were only tightening and throwing him hard against the tree. Draco tried to remain still as it was the only way to prevent the vines from digging further into him. Potter, however, was still thrashing violently and there was a worrying amount of blood seeping from slashes in his arms and chest.
Draco took a breath and shut his eyes, trying to focus. He certainly wasn’t an expert in wandless magic but Draco had attempted to be better at it after he had lost his old wand during the war and been utterly helpless.
Incendio, Draco thought repeating the spell over and over in his mind. He spread his hands out despite the thorns and invisioned flames burning through the vines.
It wasn’t working. Draco peeked at Potter and his heart dropped to his stomach. Potter was no longer fighting, not because he had given up, but because his body was limp and unconscious.
Draco snapped his eyes shut. He couldn’t let Potter die, not here and certainly not like this.
Incendio, Draco screamed in his head, he could barely feel the thorns anymore.
“Incendio!” Draco shouted aloud, the time, and a burning smell made Draco snap his eyes open. A small flame was spreading across the vine, causing it to wither. The vines trapping him receded and Draco fell ten feet to the ground with a thud.
Ignoring the pain that spread throughout his body, Draco snatched his wand off the ground a shouted again,
“Incendio!”
This time a huge flame errupted from his wand, striking the vines just above Potter’s limp body. Immediately Draco reached out to catch Potter’s body as he was released from the grips of the vines.
Draco had seen plenty of violence in his life. But it was typically magically violence- the kind that did not draw blood. But this- Draco had never seen so much blood. Gently but quickly, Draco laid Potter’s body down and shrugged of his own robe. He wrapped Potter in it and picked the boy up. He was surprisingly light and somewhere in the back of his mind Draco decided he was going to bring the man more biscuits.
“Come on, Potter.” Draco muttered, reaching to grab Potter’s wand. “You’ve got to make it, Harry, you’ve got to.”
Draco shut his eyes and apparated them to St. Mungos.