A/N For anyone still reading this, thank you so much for being patient with me. This chapter was a lot harder to write than expected, I ended up writing a few hundred words then deleting it all a few times. This was the end result and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I will try my hardest to get something out once every week or every two weeks, depends on my school schedule. Again, thank you and enjoy:)
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Short, heavy pants came from his mouth. He was dazed and confused. Where was he? He didn't know. He slowly looked around; he was kneeling in the snow on the ground and there were trees surrounding him. They were so dense no sunlight seeped through making the forest dark and ominous.
Dread made itself known. Starting in his stomach and traveling throughout his entire being. Something was terribly wrong.
"Draco," his name was whispered, echoing all around him, the "a" being drawn out playfully.
"H-Harry?" He calls out, his voice shaky.
"Yes baby, I've missed you," his voice was soft and rumbling like it always is. Draco's brows furrowed in confusion.
"B-But I'm r-right here Harry," Draco calls out softly, "p-please come here, I-I'm scared."
The air changes. It became tense and frightening, wrapping itself around Draco, suffocating him. A maniac laugh resounds all around him. He's never heard this laugh before, but somehow he knew it was coming from his Harry. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks as the wind became angry, picking up, throwing snow around, and making the tree branches angrily sway.
"I can't believe you could do this Draco," Harry's booming voice was angry and sharp.
"D-Do what? I-I didn't do anything, I swear!" Draco cries out in terror. Harry has never spoken to him that way and it brought a sharp stab of pain to his heart.
"I can't believe you Draco, I can't believe you," Harry's voice kept saying the same words over and over again. As the chant got louder and the wind got angrier, Draco could feel a force on his neck. It was getting tighter and tighter, choking him.
He brought his hands up to claw at the invisible force and that's when he saw it. The blood.
It coated his hands, caked under his short nails and in between his fingers. All of the air left his body as a realization came to him. Suddenly the wind stopped howling, the invisible force was gone, and the chanting ceased. He felt the air shift once more.
Draco looked up from his blood stained hands to see he was now in a field of lush, green grass and beautiful flowers. He stood up and looked around.
"Go to the water Draco," Harry's voice was closer this time. He spun around hoping to see him, to make this nightmare end, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. Draco turned back and saw a little pond. His steps were slow and sluggish as he approached it, knowing something terrible was going to happen.
When he finally reached it he looked at his reflection. Blood was everywhere. It matted the top of his hair down, it covered his face in splatters, it coated his neck. Draco screamed. He collapsed to his hands and knees at the edge of the pond, staring at his reflection and letting out all of his agony in this one, haunting scream.
The laugh once again resounded all around him. Draco closed his eyes tight and covered his ears, squeezing them shut.
"G-Go away, go a-away, GO AWAY!" He screams out. The laugh stops, the air is now tense, and the clearing is silent. There is no breeze, there is no swaying of grass, it was a complete standstill. Draco slowly opens his eyes and uncovers his ears. He's in the same place, but something isn't right.
He feels the hairs on the back of his blood stained neck stand up.
"You killed him Draco," the words were whispered in Harry's voice, tumbling out like needles, sharp and pointy. They were said right next to Draco's ear, making him jump and whirl around. He was met with nothing, but air.
"I-I didn't k-kill anyone. I-I know I di-didn't," Draco pleads into the silent air.
"You did Draco, you killed him, you killed him, you murderer!" The words were harsh and screamed right into Draco's ear.
"I-I didn't, I didn't, I didn't," Draco yells the words out, covering his ears again from the harsh ones that Harry threw at him. He chants the words over and over.
"Draco," Draco squeezes his eyes tighter and presses down on his ears with more force.
"Draco," the voice was closer now, more frantic.
"Go away," There were tears streaming down his stained cheeks, "go away."
"Draco baby." The world seemed to shake, making Draco lose his balance.
"Draco. Wake up!"
Draco's eyes flew open. He sat up, his breath coming out in harsh pants. He brings his shaking hands up to his eyes and is relieved to see that there is no blood on them. His relief is short lived as he feels a touch on his arm. Draco lets out a short scream, scrambling off of the grass bed and into the farthest part of the surrounding wall of grass.
Harry is startled at his baby's reaction, but doesn't let any of his hurt show. Draco needs me right now, he didn't mean to run away from me, he's just scared, Harry reasons to himself.
Draco is frightened that Harry will hate him. He's ready for the harsh words and the evil, mocking laugh that he heard in his nightmare. He's ready to be thrown away like the murderous, trash he is. His eyes fill with tears and roll down his cheeks as Harry approached him. He can see the concern in Harry's eyes, but pays it no mind. It's fake. He's faking it. He's going to come over here and beat you up, then he's going to leave. No one can love a murderer.
When Harry was only a few feet away from him, Draco found his voice.
"D-Don't come any cl-closer!" He yells out. Harry furrows his brows in hurt, but listened anyway. He throws his hands up in surrender and even takes a couple small steps back. The tense little snake relaxes only slightly at the gesture, still keeping his frightened gaze on the concerned lion.
Harry crouches down a little so that his frame isn't so tall, hoping this will calm his baby down even more. It does, though, only slightly.
"I'm not-I'm not gonna hurt you baby," Harry's voice cracks, letting his hurt shine through. With his hands still up, and his frame still a little hunched, he takes tentative steps closer. He stops in the spot he was in when Draco told him to not move any closer. He saw the tension build up in Draco's shoulders and watched as his little baby frantically looked for a way out.
"Hey, hey. Baby boy look at me. There you go, that's it. I'm not gonna hurt you baby. Can I move closer?" Harry's eyes are locked with Draco's. He can see the fear in them and it pains him, but he is relieved when he receives a little nod, confirming his ability to move. He takes a few steps closer. Now, if he were to reach out, his fingers would lightly brush Draco's face.
Draco's breathing speeds up and his body begins to shake in terror.
"Calm down baby, I'm not gonna hurt you," Harry whispers the words out and uses Draco's attention on his eyes and words as a distraction for him to shuffle closer. He is finally toe to toe with his baby and he doesn't waste a second in wrapping Draco in a hug.
He takes the shaking boy and embraces him, squeezing his arms around the little body, not wanting to ever let go. Draco is tense, but once realizing that Harry is no threat, he relaxes.
Draco wraps his arms around Harry and sobs into his neck. Harry rubs his baby's back and soothingly whispers out reassurances.
"Sh baby, it's okay. It's okay, everything will be okay." Harry says this until Draco is calmed enough. He pulls Draco back so that he can look at him.
"Now baby, tell me what all of that was about," Harry calmly demands. His tone was soft, yet Draco knew it wasn't a request. He lowers his eyes and mumbles something out.
"Look at me baby," Harry says in the sternest voice he could muster up. Draco's eyes fly to his and Harry can see the apprehension swimming in his beautiful, silver pools.
"I need you to speak up baby boy. Your Harry can't hear you unless you speak up, okay?" Draco nods his head then looks back down, finding the grass to be very interesting.
"I-I had a-a n-nightmare is all," Harry didn't miss the extra stuttering, nor did he miss the way that Draco wouldn't look at him, but he let it go.
"Oh baby. It's okay, I'm here now so no one can hurt you," Harry had brought Draco back into his chest and started stroking his hair. He picked Draco up, setting him on his hip, and started walking out of the wall of grass.
The duo emerged from their sleeping area and into the beautiful clearing. Little, mischievous sprites and fairies were flying or jumping about, playing with each other and pulling pranks on others. Draco looked around and saw the Hirsch not too far away, grazing on some grass. Narcissa was nowhere to be seen, but the boys weren't too worried about that at the moment.
Draco wiggles around until Harry gets the hint and gently releases him from his hip. Draco approaches the magnificent stag with Harry slowly trailing behind. Sensing the approaching boys, the stag looks up from its grazing and lets out a soft huff of air upon seeing Draco. It meets Draco in the middle and nudges its head affectionately under his chin. Harry stands a few feet back, letting the two have their moment and bask in their special bond.
As Draco is stroking Hirsch's muzzle, he notices the agitated flicking of its ears. He furrows his brows and looks around, but sees no danger. Harry, having seen the whole scene, becomes tense and draws his wand.
Narcissa bursts from the tree line, panting and out of breath. She screams something, her voice portraying the terror exuding from her being. Harry and Draco scrunch their faces in confusion, not being able to make out what she's saying from so far away.
"-ters!" Harry catches the last part of what she screamed out.
"What?" Harry yells back, moving up some so he can listen.
"Hunters! Run!" As soon as the words leave her lips ten men emerge from the tree line. They all have wands as well as muggle hunting gear. Bows and arrows, spears, and guns are all drawn, ready to fire. Harry's eyes widen. He turns and runs to Draco, grabbing his hand and attempting to pull him along.
"No, we can't leave him!" Draco yells out in terror. The beautiful stag was terrified. It was rearing up on it's two hind legs, letting out frightened whinnies. Draco tries to go back, but Harry drags him away. Narcissa has caught up to them at this point. When they were just about to break through the other side of the tree line Draco watches the man with the bow and arrows. He sees the man line up an arrow and point it at the Hirsch. His eyes widen.
"No!" Draco screams out, but it's too late. Narcissa and Harry turn around just in time to see the arrow pierce through the stag's heart. It lets out a pained cry, rearing up one more time and then dropping to the ground. Liquid, black lines visibly spread through its veins. The life being drained out of its body.
Draco runs towards the dead creature, forgetting about the hunters now making their way to them, forgetting about his mother, forgetting about Harry. He runs faster than he ever has before. Harry runs after him while Narcissa throws spell after spell at the approaching hunters. She is able to take three of them out as Harry runs after the frantic little snake.
A gold glow surrounds the dead stag, drawing everyone's attention. Draco slowly comes to a halt a mere few feet away from it. The hunters stop running, turning to see what is going on, Narcissa stops throwing curses and spells, and Harry catches up with his baby, standing a foot or so away.
The glowing aura rises from the creature's body and takes form of the Hirsch itself. Everyone watches, amazed, as the glowing animal form trots to Draco. It stops in front of him, closing its eyes and resting its forehead against Draco's. It lifts its head back up, opening its eyes and backs away from the distraught boy.
"D-Don't leave, please," Draco brokenly whispers out. It lets out a soft whinny then leaps in the air. The Hirsch seems to float there for a second before galloping down, charging straight at Draco. Draco stands there, transfixed on the glowing stag as it comes closer and closer.
It finally slams into Draco, nearly knocking the boy off his feet, and seemingly absorbs right into his heart. The impact makes a wave of air go through the clearing, hitting everyone and making them fly back a few feet.
The glowing aura travels through Draco, lighting up his whole being. He slowly rises from the ground, his arms out and his head tilted back with his eyes closed. Everyone stares at the floating boy, the hunters in fright, Narcissa in pride, and Harry in awe.
Draco's eyes snap open. They glow a bright gold, making everyone squint and put their hands up to block some of the brightness. He looks at the hunters, slowly putting his hand out, palm facing the evil men.
"You must pay for the innocent lives you've stolen, you must die for the sins you have committed," Draco's voice wasn't his. It was strong and gravelly, deeper than his own. Light shoots from the middle of his palm, streaking down towards the hunters.
Their eyes widen, so petrified they don't move from their spots. The light barrels from Draco's palm and hits the hunters in mere seconds. They scream in agony, their flesh being torn from their skin, their bone disintegrating before their very eyes. Harry and Narcissa cover their ears, not being able to listen to the haunting cries of pain.
Soon, the light is retracted and all that's left of the evil men is a pile of ash. Harry quickly looks up as Draco slowly lowers towards the ground. His eyes turn back to their beautiful, silver pools, and his skin no longer glows. Right when his feet touch the ground his eyes roll to the back of his head and he collapses to the ground in exhaustion.
"Draco!" Harry yells out. He runs to his baby, immediately picking him up when he reaches his passed out form. Harry turns and makes long, quick strides towards Narcissa.
"We need to leave. We don't know if there are more of them coming and right now we don't have the power to fight them."
Narcissa nods her head in understanding.
"Yes, you're right. Follow me," Narcissa responds gravely. They walk in silence, both trying to wrap their head around what the hell just happened. They break through the tree line and are met with a snow covered road. There were some tire tracks, but they didn't seem to be very recent.
Narcissa and Harry, still carrying Draco, step onto the road that looks like it goes on forever. They trudge through the snow occasionally turning their heads towards the tree line when a car idles by, which wasn't very often. The two seem to walk for hours until they reach a driveway branching off the road.
"It's just up here," Narcissa gestures to the narrow driveway, protected from snow by the overhanging branches of trees lining both sides. Harry's arms waver a bit, exhausted from having to carry Draco all this way. Narcissa reaches out her hands, "I can take him for you, we are almost there anyway."
"No," the word was cutting and sharp, tumbling from Harry's lips. He squeezed Draco closer to his chest and angled him away from Narcissa. The woman widens her eyes in slight amusement at Harry's overprotectiveness, and slowly lowers her arms.
"Alright then," she breaths out, trying her hardest not to laugh. She promptly strides ahead of Harry, leading the way once again. The driveway was long and winding, meant that way so any unwanted visitors would become tired or bored and turn around.
After an hour or so of walking, a small, rickety shack comes into view. Harry speeds to the little shack, he needed to get out of the cold and he needed to set Draco down so that he wouldn't drop him. The steps creak and groan under Harry's weight, but he pays it no mind. He flings the screen door and then opens the wooden one behind it. It creaks open, definitely needing some greasing. Harry strides into the, surprisingly warm, shack and gently sets Draco down onto a couch. He bends over and caresses Draco's cheek for a moment before standing straight and observing his surroundings.
The little shack was all open. The room he was in appearing to be a living area which opened up into the little kitchen. There was a short hallway coming off the kitchen leading to a staircase. Narcissa came into the living room and gestured for Harry to follow her upstairs. He gathers Draco into his arms and follows the woman. The upstairs was even smaller than the downstairs, consisting of a narrow hallway with three doors. One on the left and two on the right.
"This is the bathroom," Narcissa points to the door on the left, "and those two are bedrooms," she gestures to the other two doors. Harry lets out a grunt of acknowledgment and quickly walks into the first door on the right. He promptly closes the door, walks to the bed, and lays Draco down. He heard Narcissa laugh at his brutish actions, causing a small smile to tug at the corners of his lips.
It was soon wiped into a concerned frown when he heard Draco groan. Draco's eyes slowly flutter open and he gazes at Harry in confusion.
"Wh-What happened?" Draco asks, his nose scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed. Harry's eyes soften at the sight and he leans down to place a kiss on his baby's little nose. Draco scrunches it up further and let's out a small "hmph."
Harry chuckles at the sight, but becomes serious when he realizes that he has yet to answer Draco's question.
"Well baby, a lot happened.." Harry proceeded to tell Draco everything. From his glowing eyes, to the disintegration of the hunters, all up until now. Draco stares at Harry in shock.
"I-I killed them?" Draco's voice is strained and soft. Tears well up in his eyes, "I-I really am a m-murderer," Draco wails out.
"No, baby. If you hadn't done what you did then we would be captured or dead right now. There were too many of them and we would have never made it," Harry attempts to sooth Draco. Draco's tears slow a little at Harry's words, but deep in his mind he hates what he did.
"I love you baby," Harry lovingly whispers out while gently ridding Draco's cheeks of tears.
"L-Love you t-too Harry," Draco says through his sniffles.
"Okay baby, you've had quite the day haven't you? Let's lay down and rest," Harry said it more as a demand than a request. Either way, Draco easily complies, laying down and snuggling under the soft covers. Harry gets under next to him and wraps his arms around Draco's waist. He drags Draco so that his back is flushed against his chest and rests his chin atop his head.
Harry places a few kisses before saying a soft goodnight and quickly falling asleep. Draco lay awake for a few minutes, processing everything the he was told. A few tears escape his eyes as he pictures the dead Hirsch. He squeezes his eyes shut to rid of the image and eventually falls into a fitful sleep.