Chapter 11
Draco looked at Harry for long seconds, trying to see if he was mocking him or not. - Because despite what the brunette said, he regularly did. He found the look on the blond man's face at times like that hilarious... - But Harry's eyes weren't on him. They were behind him. So Draco did what no one with a little survival instinct should ever do, and he turned his head gently in the same direction as the dark-haired man, behind him. And indeed, a huge Dragon - and he knew something about it. He had watched the tournament in fourth year. - was there. And he had noticed them. Maybe Draco wasn't entirely sure, and maybe it wasn't really the right time to ask the question... He felt his throat closing, because he had survived a war when he was just a kid. He had the Dark Lord in his house for a long time and he didn't know how long (Yes. He knew exactly how long. But he preferred to tell himself that he had no idea) and he was still alive to tell it. So it wasn't a Dragon who was going to end his life (when he wasn't even twenty-five yet and had so many plans for the future!) and so, if he had survived everything that had happened in his life since he was eleven years old, he could stay calm, not scream and find a solution in a rational way. He was a Malfoy!
« Harry, » he said in a strangled voice, « tell me you know what we have to do so we don't get eaten right now, right now? »
« Nope, » replied the brunette, still looking at the Dragon, « I don't know anything. »
« It's not the first time you've seen that kind of beast, though. »
« Hm...But the fourth year it doesn't count, first of all because I had to piss her off because she was a mother and I had to steal her baby, Draco. Even though technically, it wasn't her real baby, but a pale copy, » Harry thought aloud, « it wasn't that clever, after all... And besides, if anything ever happened, normally, the job of the teachers was to make sure we got out of this alive. (Especially me. Since I had to fulfill the prophecy of my life and kill a being so powerful and dangerous that even Dumbledore was afraid of it. I wasn't even fifteen years old). »
« You're getting a little carried away, and let me tell you, Potter, this is absolutely not the time, » Draco cut him off, « although I can see where you're going with this, and I agree with you. But I'm not sure the Dragon would agree to wait until you've finished mourning your life before coming to make you his four o'clock! »
« It's true, » admitted Harry, « so I was saying, the Dragons in our Fourth Year have absolutely nothing to do with our current situation. And I can't say that the Dragons of our first year have anything to do with our current situation... »
« First year? »
« Um... To Gringotts. We had to get out of there fast so it wouldn't all come crashing down on us. So you could say we kind of pissed off the Dragon on purpose. Given that we just jumped on his back to get him to take us out... The Goblins weren't happy that we half destroyed the bank. »
« Oh Merlin, » whispered Draco, « you're going to tell me your whole life story from A to Z Potter. But not now! Just tell me what we've got to do! »
« I don't know ! »
« Wait a second, » Hermione interrupted, massaging her temples, « you're telling us that instead of going gently away from this Dragon, who, I remind you, is one hundred percent carnivorous, you preferred to make conversation about the adventures Harry had had with other Dragons while we were at Hogwarts? »
« That's it, yes » replied Harry with a smile.
« That's, uh... Totally unconscious, and ridiculous, » Hermione reprimanded.
« It's Harry and Draco for you, » replied Pansy, « Harry may have changed in five years, Granger-Weasley, but it's still Harry, and some things will never change. »
« Especially the tendency he has, to act as if he's in absolutely no danger of death, » continued Blaise, « that's not surprising. As for Draco, he has a very great instinct for self-preservation, that's nothing new either. »
« Thank you Blaise, » said the blond man, « I'm glad someone is aware of that. »
« However, » ignored the Italian, « he's been married to Harry Potter for almost four years now, has been obsessed with him since he was three.(Well, it got worse when he finally met him in first year, but that's another story). »
« You put them both together and do the math, » finished Pansy, « things couldn't have happened otherwise, and honestly, if we compare this story to the ones they've already told us, I'd say they were pretty damn careful. »
« You mean they did worse? » Ron asked, suddenly white.
« She means, » said Harry, « it's not as if we haven't been through worse, Hermione, you and I... »
« It's true, Hermione sighed, « but it was a matter of survival, and not because we'd been in a dangerous place out of envy! »
Harry looked at his former best friend for a while, because what she had just said was true... He didn't want to admit it. Didn't even want to think about it, but at the time, they had done what they had done because they had no choice.
« Maybe you're right, » Draco replied in his place as he saw the look in his husband's eyes, « but that doesn't necessarily mean Harry wants a tidy little life with nothing ever going on. What happened to us on our travels was certainly dangerous, but also totally unexpected. »
« And that's what gave us our best memories, » finished Harry slowly.
« Yes, it did. »
« Now that you've cleared it all up, » says George, maybe you could continue the story? »
« We want to know if he ate you or not! Fred continued.
« Twins, » sighed Draco, « you're dear friends to our hearts. But if you could think just a little bit more, I swear our lives would be made a lot easier... If the Dragon had managed to eat us, we wouldn't be here telling you this story... »
« ... Now that you say it, that's probably true... » Fred smiles broadly.
Draco sighed, and wondered what had become of his life, while Harry clearly refrained from bursting into laughter. And Ron, Hermione and Molly looked at the dark-haired man, who looked genuinely blissful. Like they'd never seen him before. - Which made sense. They'd been at war. And there's little way to be happy during a war. Especially when you were the main character in it... -
« So, Draco and I were just... ...talking quietly with a dragon nearby when.... »
« You owe me so many explanations Potter, » mumbled Draco, « but for now, get us out of this mess. »
« Oh... Draco Malfoy just said a bad word! » mocked the green-eyed brunette.
« Again, not the time, Potter! »
Before Harry had time to say anything, the Dragon, who had been silent until now, made a noise that Draco could only describe as monstrous, startled them both. And Draco, a virile man, who had survived a war full of death and blood, torture and screams, which had been horrible, but he had lived, thought that now was probably the right time to scream so high and so loud that it must have been heard many miles away. And the screaming went on for a long time. And must have pierced at least one of Harry's eardrums. When he finally stopped screaming because it was starting to seriously hurt his throat (and because he had finally understood that it was him, Draco Malfoy the first, who was screaming), the brunette looked at him as if he had just grown a second head.
« Why did you start screaming like that? » Harry asked gravely and always with one eye on the Dragon.
« Because it seemed like a good option at the time, » the blond answered.
« Oh well, of course, go ahead please, go and piss off a dragon that isn't already pissed off with your scream so high that it would make a girl jealous! Go ahead, I'll wait for you very quietly, and watch you get eaten as if it were the most normal thing in the world! » Said Harry crossing his arms across his chest.
« I don't see you doing much either, Oh Mr. Great Savior, Harry Potter! » Retorted Draco.
« Because screaming at death like that might help us? »
« Excuse me - »
Draco didn't really have time to finish his sentence as the Dragon got tired of waiting for them - because he had been polite, thank you very much. He had waited for them to stop talking and finally pay real attention to him. - and began to move more or less quickly towards the two wizards there.
« Okay, » said Harry with wide-eyed eyes, « okay. We're going for a run. »
« Run? Are you sure that's a good idea? »
« Absolutely not, but I don't think we're really the choice right now, » replied the dark-haired man, starting to jog followed closely by Draco, « so we'll run as fast as we can, and try to reach the place where Charlie should normally be. »
« Wait jus a minutes there. Charlie was close to where you were? » Asked Ron.
« Yes, » said Harry.
« No, » said Draco at the same time than Harry, « he wasn't close at all. »
« It all depends on where you are, » said the dark-haired man shrugging his shoulders.
« Yes, and from where we were, the reserve was more than ten miles away, Harry James Potter, » said Draco.
« Ten miles? » Molly questioned, looking as though she was about to faint.
« ... It's true, » sighed the brunette, « but by running very fast and with the help of adrenaline, ten miles can pass very quickly. »
« Except when a dragon, I'd like to remind you that it's a reptile, with wings and which can, depending on the species, spit fire, is following us and that it can, in fact, catch up with you extremely quickly, » retorted Draco.
« Which he has done, » Pansy added.
« Which he's done, » nodded the Blond Slytherin.
« You're not nice to me, » pouted Harry, « but at the same time you're Slytherins, so we can't expect much kindness from you now, can we? »
« And you're married to one of them, » answered Blaise proudly.
« Why are you proud that I am married to one of the Slytherin, who, I remind you, is not you? » Asked Harry.
« Brotherhood. »
« ... So, I continue my story, » ignored Harry.
« Hey! Don't ignore me! »
« What if we don't find him? » Scream the blonde.
« Don't ask questions and run, Malfoy! » Harry answered.
And Draco decided to do exactly what Harry told him to do, so he started running at full speed. Quickly catching up with the dark-haired man, the Dragon was on their heels. And Draco swore that if they made it out of there - again... - ...he would make Potter pay. He would make him suffer like never before. And he had torn his pants, and it was one of his favorites!
« You mean you hurt him by marrying him? » George laughed.
« Oh, shut up and listen to history, Weasley! » Retorqua Draco.
« ... There's more than one Weasley here, Malfoy. » Said Ron.
« George Weasley, Ronald, George Weasley, it made sense to me. »
« By Merlin, shut up, all of you! And listen Harry, » Pansy interrupted sharply.
Harry thought they were doing pretty well, given the circumstances... The Dragon hadn't caught up with them yet - but he suspected it was because he wasn't really trying and was just letting them run, because if he really wanted to, it would have taken him two seconds to catch them. He wasn't an idiot. - So the dark-haired guy was getting more and more hopeful of getting out of there alive... Until the huge reptile (which was red and gold and was beautiful. He would be even more so if he would stop, but that was just a detail) decided that he had played the cat and mouse game long enough, and simply decided to take Harry in his mouth and leave. Leaving Draco running for another five minutes before he realizes that he was now all alone running. Well, alone, at last!
« Harry? » Is he calling softly, « Harry?! »
He looked around, but not seeing his companion, decided to try calling him louder.
« HARRY? » he cried, « HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU WILL BETTER ANSWER ME IN THE SECOND WHERE I SWEAR ON MERLIN THAT I WILL BE MAD! »
Still no answer, and seeing nothing, either on the ground or in the sky, Draco took ten minutes to panic silently - well, not at all, but he still had some pride. So he was going to say it was silent, and everyone was going to believe him. - Once the ten minutes had passed, and he finally realised that panicking wouldn't bring Harry back - on the other hand, if the Dragon had made Harry his meal, he probably wouldn't come back at all... - he set off for the reserve, because his best option at the moment was to find Charlie Weasley, explain what had happened, and pray that the Weasley would know more or less where to find a Dragon in semi-liberty, who might have possibly swallowed Harry Potter, Savior Of The World Wizard.
« So Draco's actually getting his brains and his composure back, to finally think when Harry's not with him? » Asked Hermione to Pansy.
« It's always like this, » Pansy sighed, « it's as if Harry just sucks all of Draco's intelligence... It's incredible the first few times, but you get used to it. »
« Maybe you should stop talking about my intellect while I'm in the same room? » Says Draco, « I'm in full possession of my abilities even in the presence of Harry. Who can be very clever. When he wants to be. »
« ... Nobody said anything about Harry's intelligence, » Pansy replied softly, « just yours, Draco darling. »
« That's even worse! »
« Just a fact. But did you find the reserve after all? »
« Yes, » replied Draco, still a little upset, « I found it. Because I have a good sense of direction, and I more or less knew where the reserve was. »
« Which means that he had absolutely no idea where it was, and that he went looking for it simply on instinct, » translated Blaise.
« ... True. »
After almost an hour's walk, he was exhausted, he was afraid for Harry, he was alone, hungry and thirsty. He just couldn't take it anymore. He thought about giving up. Anyway, even if Harry hadn't been eaten an hour ago, he would be eaten now, so why go on? Maybe he should just sit and wait for the heat to wipe him out for good. His mother would be sad, but she'd get over it - or not... But it wasn't really Draco's call anymore. - Pansy and Blaise would recover, even though they would probably be lost without Draco for a while. He just wanted to sleep. He shook his head hard, he was Draco Malfoy, and even if now it didn't mean anything, he had to go on, because if there was the slightest chance of finding Harry safe and sound, he was going to take it !
Another hour passed, and Draco gave up. He couldn't find anything. It was a void, and even though he was pretty sure that a small town that served as a Dragon Reserve must be nearby (his instincts told him so) he had the distinct impression that he was going in circles. He would walk another ten minutes or so, and if he couldn't find anything, he would stop for the night. That was it.
When he was about to really give up, he saw lights in the distance. He started to walk faster, hoping very much that this was the reserve where Charlie was working, otherwise he would lose his mind. More than he already was...
He arrived at the entrance of the small "town" and went to the first person he found.
« Excuse me, » he says quickly, « do you know where I can find Charlie Weasley? It's urgent! »
« Um... Yes, I'll take you there, visitors usually can't get through there... But considering your condition... »
Draco didn't comment. This was no time to antagonize this person, he had things to do and then he could finally sleep. But Harry came first. Because he had priorities! So he followed the person he didn't know, but loved very much right now because he was gonna take him to Charlie Weasley.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a place where it was already much warmer, which was impressive, because it was already very hot. After walking a few more minutes, Draco began to see Dragons. Because one in the day was not enough, apparently!
« Charlie is right there, » said the man who had been kind enough to bring him here.
« Thank you. Really, thank you. »
Without waiting for an answer, Draco went to Charlie, his companion always with him, because if he wasn't accompanied, he had no right to stay here.
« Charlie Weasley, » he called quietly because he didn't want to piss off a second dragon...
« Draco Malfoy, it's a surprise to see you here, » replied the Weasley nonchalantly, « to what do I owe the honor of your visit? »
« Normally I was supposed to be with Harry and have a good time, because he decided to bring me here to see you. »
« Normally... ? »
« Normally, yes. Because a Dragon who clearly wasn't part of this reserve decided to come and chase us and then kidnap Harry and I don't know where he is now. »
Charlie stared at Draco for a moment, seemingly deciding the truth of the words the blond man had just said to him.
« A Dragon kidnapped Harry? Are you sure about that? » He finally asked, « he didn't eat him? Wounded or killed? »
« I'm not sure to tell the truth, » said Draco suddenly feeling tired, « but I'm sure if he had just hurt him I would have seen him. And I'm pretty sure he didn't kill him. Because if he did, why did he let me live? »
« No one is ever really sure with some Dragons, » replied the redhead, « can you describe him to me? »
« Not exactly, » sighed Draco, « but he (or she) was red with gold tips. I don't think it's one of the races that breathes fire. Or maybe he didn't use it this time... But I didn't sit down to look at it, sorry. »
« No, it's already a lot, » answered Charlie, « it can help, and I have a little idea of the Dragon you're talking about. »
Draco began to have a glimmer of hope again.
« If it's the Dragon you think, do you think Harry's still alive? »
« Oh, certainly, » smiled Charlie, « if it's the right Dragon, he'll be just fine. »
The blond didn't understand a thing. But that was usually the case when it had something to do with Harry Potter.
« Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to go, it's too dark, and it could be far too dangerous, » Charlie suddenly said more seriously.
« I'm going to follow your advice, » answered Draco wisely.
« I think you need to eat a little and rest well, and we'll fetch Harry first thing in the morning. »
« All right. »
« So you went looking for Harry the next day? Asked Hermione in amazement, why not straight away when you arrived?
« Because, as Charlie said, answered Harry before his husband, « it would have been much more dangerous at night. Besides, Draco was hungry and exhausted.
« But...
« He simply took the advice of a professional, Hermione, « Harry said, as everyone should, right?
Hermione didn't say anything, because even though she didn't agree with it, she knew Harry was right...
« And you had trouble finding him the next day? Ron suddenly asked.
« I'd say it was... Complicated," sighed the blond...
Did Draco and Charlie find Harry quickly? Was Harry okay? How will this story end? The end is fast approaching...