In the Hands of Outlaws

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, the first thing Draco remembered was the events of the night prior and groaned in mortification. How could he have possibly acted like that? For fucks sake, he asked Harry to fuck his face. Draco didn't want to know how sleep deprived he was to ask for that, yet alone enjoy it.

"Morning Malfoy! Sunshine is up!"

For a moment, Draco was terrified it was Potter, but looking up, he saw the boy who had previously interrupted him and Harry on the saddle- Fred, was it?- standing in the mouth of the tent. 

"Where's Harry?" he mumbled, holding a hand in front of his face to obstruct the ever-intruding rays of sunlight.

"Went out hunting with a couple of folks. Figured I'd get you up while breakfast stew is still hot."

"Thanks."

Fred grinned. "I wouldn't thank me just yet. Mums food sometimes leaves much to be desired- certainly nothing compared to the lavish meals you're probably used to getting."

"Oh buzz off," Draco grumbled. 

"Oh, yeah, before I go..."

Draco rose a single brow, scowling slightly. He was not a morning person. "What?"

"Jeez, sorry, just thought you'd want to know you have some of Potter's spunk on your chin," Fred scoffed, scoffing with a playful glint in his eyes.

Draco's eyes widened, immediately reaching for his chin while the redhead burst into laughter. "Oh you should have seen the look on your face! Nah, there's nothing there, but me and Georgie are in the tent right next to yours."

"Very funny," Draco scowled. Fred let out a rather loud, undignified snort. 

"I sure as hell thought so. Speak of the Devil..." Fred leaned around, and Draco could hear the sound of hooves hitting the ground when they both fell silent. "Your little sheet-freak is back. And with a fat ol' doe." Seemingly completely forgetting about Draco, he let the thin sheet that divided Harry's tent from the rest of the world fall back into place as footsteps receded.

Draco made himself look somewhat presentable before stepping out- and suddenly really wishing he hadn't. 

It wasn't that Draco hadn't seen death before, but it was just a few rats he'd found in a cellar- big, matted, scabbed over beasts. Using the bb-gun to take them out wasn't hard to do, considering they all looked half-dead already- but this had a different feel entirely. 

The bloodied corpse of a deer- a doe, like Fred had said- being carried like it was nothing over Harry's shoulder. Draco felt like gagging when Harry speared a metal pike through the skin of it's rear legs and took it over to the edge of camp, hanging it from the branches like some trophy. Worse yet- when the wind swung it over to face the camp, the chest and stomach were split open, revealing nothing but a cavity. A cavity of nothing but meat and fat, wrapped around ribs and looking sickly red. It's head hung down, legs spread wide and a bloodied tongue sticking out. Crimson blood was still drooling out of it's mouth, creating a small puddle beneath it's ever-swaying corpse. 

Draco couldn't help it- he ran towards the opposite end of camp, as far away from the dead deer as possible, and he heaved, spilling up what little he ate yesterday into the bushes. Leaning against a nearby tree for support, he panted, holding his stomach. Typically, at this point, either his mother or one of the servants were rushing to his aid- but if anything, when he turned around, people looked weirded out. Like he were the weird one. 

Harry had the audacity to look amused, covered in blood from his shoulders down to his fingertips. 

"What, you never seen a dead animal before?" He asked, having lumbered over several minutes later. 

"Nothing beyond rats, and never... Never the inside of them."

Harry chuckled. "Trust me, it's much more messy before you clean out their guts and organs. That's why I didn't bother to wake you to go with me- plus, your giant feet would have spooked 'em."

Draco looked down at his feet, feeling moderately miffed. He felt like they were of perfectly average size. "It's a saying, don't take it literally," Harry sighed, kicking at his ankle lightly. "We have to skin the deer in a few hours, why don't you help? Get yourself more affiliated with the sight?"

"I'd much rather stay unaffiliated," Draco muttered, shuddering as the feeling of queasiness rose up in his stomach again.

"Then come bathe in the river with me." Harry whistled sharply, watching as Erelah trotted towards him lazily, making her way through camp with more grace than half the fools there. "Erelah needs a bath too- we can all go."

Draco hesitated but eventually relented. He needed to get the feeling of sick off of himself. Harry helped him onto the horse before climbing on himself- in the back again. Also similar to last time, Harry gave him the reigns. "I'm exhausted. You steer. Just take us down the embankment a ways, you can hear the river. Follow that. I'm gonna nap."

"Wh- No you're-"

Harry's head dropped down onto Draco's shoulder and, much to Draco's dismay, he started snoring. 

"Err, Erelah, you wouldn't happen to know the way to the river would you?"

She seemed annoyed that he even asked, stamping her hooves impatiently. He sighed, giving her a light kick to the side and starting to head down the embankment as Harry instructed, following the half-formed paths and apologizing to Erelah whenever they hit a rough bit of terrain. Finally, he started to hear it- at first, it sounded like a swarm of bees or something, but as he drew closer he realized it was the sound of flowing water. Feeling much better, he followed it, Harry still snoring on his shoulder. 

About fifteen minutes later, Draco pulled Erelah to the stop at the embankment, watching the water for a few minutes before shrugging his shoulder, effectively waking Harry up. The bastard had the audacity to sound surprised. 

"Huh. Didn't actually think you'd make it."

Draco scowled, elbowing him in the ribs. Harry just chuckled, sliding off of the horse and helping Draco down after him and looking up at the sky. "Perfect day to bathe. Sun is nice and bright, and there isn't any breeze."

Harry hitched Erelah to a nearby tree, patting her flank before turning to Draco with a mischievous grin. 

"Well? Time to strip, Draco."