Black Truth [READ DESCRIPTION]

chapter twenty-two

Yes, it was done. Draco fought back the urge to crow with glee as he looked at the swirling purple contents of his cauldron. He'd found this little thing in the back of one of his father's potions books and thought it would be fun to try it sometime.

"So what's the point of this one?" Harry's voice questioned from over his shoulder.

Draco was hit with a truly Slytherin idea and smirked over his shoulder at Harry. "Watch."

And Draco tipped the entire contents of the potion onto the table. Harry yelped as the potion began to spread rapidly. Draco pulled off his shirt and grabbed Harry around the waist, wings spreading outward from his back as he did so. His wings had grown enough to somewhat support him in flight so he was able to lift Harry off the floor and hold them both aloft as the potion continued its coursethrough the room.

The swirling purple substance spread throughout the room,crawling across anything it touched, until the entire room was a swirling purple color.

Harry's breath had caught in his throat when Draco had picked him up off the floor, and as Draco held him he tried to make his heart slow its frantic beating.

Draco fought down a smirk. He could feel Harry's heart pounding in his chest, and knew that wasn't only because he was surprised at what the potion did.

"Rather pretty" Draco breathed in Harry's ear. Harry tried to ignore the sensation of hot breath on his neck as he nodded.

"Is it permanent?" That sounded a little raspier than Harry had wanted it too.

"No, it goes away in a few hours" Draco replied, touching back down on the floor of the room now that the potion had settled.

Harry was surprised the next day when Draco appeared through the wall that separated their rooms.

"I'm going swimming. Want to come?"

Harry looked at Draco incredulously. "In the snow?"

"Yes, in the snow" Draco repeated as if he was talking to a little child.

"Isn't the water frozen?"

Draco smirked at Harry's confusion. "Just put your swimsuit on under your clothes and come on."

"I don't have a swimsuit," Harry pointed out truthfully.

"The House Elves will get you one" Draco replied as he disappeared back through the wall.

The House Elves had done as Draco said, and Harry found himself following Draco through the foot-deep snow towards where Draco had pointed out a lake. As they neared the lake Harry had to stop for a moment when he realized that it wasn't frozen, in fact, there was no ice to be seen anywhere in the lake, yet the snow reached right up to its banks.

As they neared the lake, the temperature seemed to rise… yet the snow remained on the ground and didn't melt. Warm snow… It was the strangest thing Harry had seen in a long time, and he said so.

"It's a long range warming charm" Draco replied "The House Elves are really good at it."

When they reached the bank of the lake, Draco calmly stripped off his outer clothing and plunged into the waters. Harry followed at a slightly slower pace.

"You act like you've never been in the water before" Draco commented as he surfaced a few feet away.

"I can count on one hand the times that I've gone swimming."

Draco blinked. "But you do know how to swim, right?"

Harry gave Draco a lopsided smile. "Yes, Draco, I do know how to swim."