Chapter Two: "Reflecting Road Below"

They stood in the along the water front, the beautiful water from the lake shining brightly at them as the sun slowing came to its edge. Draco could only smile. He remembered this memory quite well. It was when he was merely a foolish boy who knew nothing about the big world around him.

As a child, he was quite carefree, taking dips in the lake when it was too hot and basking underneath the sun in the clearing whenever it got too cold. His parents had been kind to him since his birth, and being an only child they brought him up with good morals and responsibility in mind.

All the rules didn't stop Draco from creating his own brand of mischief along their merry little village on the coast of a fairly small island. Beside him stood his trusted friends; Blaise Zabini, Hermione Grander, Ron Weasley and Theodore Nott, along with other kids in the town which he was very familiar with.

Day in and day out, they would cause havoc along the road with the pranks they played using gadgets which Ron's brothers, Fred and George, had created. Life as they grew up was filled with laughs.

"One day" his friend suddenly announced. "I'm going to ask you to marry me!" he declared delightfully during a cool summer evening as they all camped in the woodlands. He was only a year older than Draco but the statement was never innocent.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a questioning tone, cocking his head to the side. As a five-year-old boy, he still knew nothing about marriage and this sort of thing.

Theo still kept his smile. "On your sixteenth birthday" he said proudly, giving a peck on his cheek as she walked away and made his way to the tent. Draco merely raised an eyebrow and stared blankly at him, but his smile never feigned.

"Hey! That's not fair!" A short girl joined in, dark hair in two low buns. "Draco is going to marry me when I turn sixteen!" she said proudly, looping an arm around Draco's elbow. The brunette behind her scowled in annoyance.

"Isn't that right, Drakey-poo?" Even to the five-year-old blonde, that sounded more like a statement than an actually question. He grimaced but never failed to smile warily at her. "See?" she pushed further, proud that he did not deny it.

Theo quickly fought the notion. "Are you blind, you foolish girl? Can't you see his face? He looks like he's disgusted with you!" he spat out venomously, uncaring if he was talking to someone younger than him.

"No he doesn't!" She wailed, nearly spilling tears. "He loves me!"

"No" Theo gritted. "I love Draco and he loves me back!"

The argument continued over Draco head for what seemed like hours until finally eh couldn't take it any more.

"Both of you shut it!" He shouted, breaking his usually passive demeanor. "I decide who I want to marry not any of you!"

The pair ceased fighting in an instant. They did not want to get on the blonde boy's bad side. That was over eleven year ago, yet still Draco smile at the memory of Pansy and Theo promising him their hands in marriage. He was nearly sixteen now, soon he would have to choose between them.

"Pansy!" He called out to the girl who stood across the alcove; her dark tresses falling haplessly out of its low braids. She beamed at him and waved, motioning for him to come over. He and Pansy had continued to be close friends growing-up. Some could say that she was he best friend.

"I've got some of my mother's sandwiches, would you like to share?" He prodded his sack in search for the said item before handing one to her. "I think its salmon today with a side of egg. I'm pretty sure that you'll like it"

. . .

The sun shone high above the sky; the morning dusk faded into a fair afternoon. He groaned, feeling the sore muscle on his back as he tried to move his limbs. He tested each one, making sure that they were still agile though a bit tender.

He let out a breath of relief as he examined and re-examined all his body parts and assuring himself that they were all in proper working order. He faintly remembered the reason him being here, trying to bring himself into a sitting position and feeling his back tense as he did. It almost exhausted all his will not to howl out in pain, feeling the surge of pain radiating from his right leg.

There was blood frantically rushing out of his body. Why hadn't he noticed it before? His bloody leg was crushed underneath the carriage he had been riding! Why hadn't he notice the pain beforehand? He shook his head in frustration, trying to alert his mind and divert his attention form the pain in his legs to a solution for his dilemma.

As a prince, he should have learned to deal with pain more eloquently. He had learned all the theories and he had aced all the situational analysis he had during his study courses in the palace! Once again, knowledge came nothing close to true experience as he attempted to move his leg again. He was rewarded only by another wave of pain rocking his body.

Bloody hell, he thought, this was even greater pain than when Evan had nearly cut his stomach from his body during one of their first practices for their training exercises. At the time he was lucky to have four of the castle's numerous mediwitches to help cure his wounds by using combinations of magic and potions to heal his injured side.

He was loosing the feeling in his leg as he groaned out one more time, making his lip bleed as he bit down on it to keep himself from howling in pain. The dead weight of the steel and wooden carriage was crushing the bones that supported his leg. What would he do now? He cannot serve his brother crippled!

He could barely keep his eyes open as the blood loss was taking its toll on him. But before he could fully close his eyes and surrendered to natural death, he saw him! It was an angel with piercing silver eyes.

"Theo!" the blonde yelled out to his friend in panic, feeling nearly all the blood rush into his head as he saw the bloody man in front of him. He was riding today with Theo, taking the same route they since they were young boys but today their normal path was blocked by a distraught carriage on the road.

As the curious child in him was once again intrigued by a new discover, never in his life did he expect to see the sight before him. There was a man stuck beneath the heavy object. He could smell the eerie scent of blood as the wind blew past him. Immediately his eyes flew to the man's leg and he saw the devastating result of the crash. The man's leg was nearly torn off!

In an instant, he rushed to the stranger's side, carefully moving the man's legs to his own and whispering the words that his uncle had taught him from way before.

"Heal" he chanted in his mind, as he felt the power flow from his fingers and enter the open flesh. It left a tingling sensation on his finger tips. This amateur level of first aid would only be sufficient for the everyday cuts and bruises they received from riding, sewing, or even the occasional bump on the head but never anything this severe!

This simply would not do! He needed to get this man to his uncle before it was too late.

"Draco wah—" The boy's thought was cut short when his chocolate eyes caught sight of his friend kneeling to the ground. He feared the worst. "Are you alright?"

Urgently, Theo rushed to the blonde's side. There was blood on Draco's clothes. As he ran closer, trying to hold his breath, the foul smell of blood that invaded the air. He caught his breath in relief, realizing that it wasn't the blonde's blood whish was covering his shirt but it belonged to the strewn man Draco lying on the floor, with half his body underneath the carriage.

'Thank the heavens it wasn't Draco's blood!'

"Theo!" Draco called out again, feeling the magic slowly and steadily draining his energy. He wasn't used to spending so much magic in his life. He knew that it wasn't good for him but he couldn't stop himself from doing so.

"Help me" he called out in a soft and weakening voice, motioning from the black haired boy to lend him some magic to sustain the man's life. He would regret it if he let this man die.

"Draco, what are you doing" Theo called out after him kneeling on the floor and bringing his hands to pull Draco's away from the slumbering brunette. "You're not used to consuming your magic so rapidly!"

Draco persisted on. A force of habit made him grind his lips together. What was Draco doing? Risking his life for a stranger he barely knew! It was idiotic and foolish!

"Draco" he warned again but the blonde man refused to listen. Theo could only watch as the Draco's pale face only grew paler and his eyes loosing their focus with every ounce of magic he transferred to the wounded man.

"Get the carriage off his leg" The blonde instructed him, his voice cold with venom and his eyes held all seriousness even as his breath rasped. Theo could only follow in shock. Draco rarely, if never at all, used his voice like this. It just wasn't like him!

Then he saw it, the sheer flash of determination in Draco's eyes and he knew in an instant that whatever he said would not change the man's decision. "Okay"

Pulling out a wand, he concentrated on moving the heavy object. "Wingardium Leviosa" He sent the carriage hurling in the air and landing a few meter away from them with a loud thud on the ground. It was then when noticed his companion dreadfully pale complexion.

"Draco" he warned the blonde boy beside him "You're being foolish, you have to stop this" he said through his teeth as he tried to maintain his composure.

'Only a little more' Draco thought, begging his body to maintain the magic flow just long enough for the man's flesh wound to close. He could feel his head steadily growing lighter by the second. 'Just a little more' he chanted in his minds, taking small hopeful glances and the injured man's leg and watching as the muscles skin began to stitch back together.

"Come on" he gritted through his teeth, feeling the fatigue slowly overtaking his body. His hands began to shake as bit by bit as he lost control of his body. The skin was healing nicely, it was almost fully closed around the man's leg now and the blood had stopped flowing minutes ago.

"Draco" he heard Theo warn from beside him.

"Just a little more" he replied, using all his energy to deliver the last of his magic to the man injured man. He gave a deep breath as he let his hands fall to his side, feeling the exhaustion from the effort he has just exerted in trying to heal the man.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, looking up he saw Theo with scowl on his face. The man's sandy locks almost cover his eyes as he moved his head down to look at Draco.

"I'm sorry" he whispered slightly, using a free hand to remove Theo's from his shoulder. His silver eyes were probing with curiosity as the man's face. It was different from any other feature he had seen in the entire village and those clothes, he noted, it was foreign.

"Please" he pleaded looking Theodore straight in the eye "We have to bring him to my uncle"

Theo merely nodded, using his magic to lift the man's dead weight off of Draco and offering a hand to help the blonde stand up.

"Thank you" he whispered to him, as he let Theo carry part of his weight as they made their way back into the village to find his uncle. God knows they needed the potions.

. . .

'It was cold' Draco thought, stretching his arms high above his head as far as he could reach. Using his hands, he rubbed away the remnants of sleep from his eyes as the sun slowly brought their small village into life. With another small yawn, Draco carefully attempted to sit up but failed miserable.

He fell back to his bed with a soft pop and found himself starting blankly into the ceiling he had known since he could remember. He felt completely drained despite the fact of getting a full night's sleep.

"Ugh" he moaned quietly, weakly turning his head to the night stand beside his bed, his lips curving into a small smile as he noted the small shimmering light blue vial on the table.

He grabbed it without much effort and gulped down the liquid in a swift movement like a routine he did everyday. He calmly breathed, spreading his arms to his sides and once again closing his eyes, feeling the potion take effect. Thankfully it wasn't everyday that he had to drink his uncle's potion.

Steadily he felt his energy return to him and his eyes started to focus once more. His concentration and alertness were also going back to him. Why was he feeling so weak? T the memory of yesterday's events drifted back into his mind; the accident on the road, the carriage, all the blood and finally that man with the gorgeous brunette locks.

That man! The memory dawned on his like a tidal wave. He snapped his eyes open and stood up. He held his weight by holding on the door frame, momentarily disoriented with the sudden motion. He needed to ask his uncle for a stronger potion to wake him up next time; he noted as he descended down a flight of steps and walked into the basking sunlight.

"Draco!" Hermione greeted him with a bright smile once the blonde haired boy was outside.. Hermione's long wavy brown tresses flowed behind her. She wore a simple cotton dress and khaki flats, with a small wicker basket she clutched with both hands.

"You look pale, Draco" She commented, making her way to the silver eyed boy, her dress swaying below her with every step she took. She was at his side in mere seconds, a concerned look painted on her face as she waved her hand over Draco's face to get his attention.

"Draco, are you alright?" When he didn't respond she tried to call out to him, making sure her voice was loud enough for him to hear. She was the town healer's apprentice and her training made her aware of the blonde's unusually disheveled state.

It took him moments to regain himself.

"Yes, yes" he snapped at her, swatting her hand away causing the girl to glare in response.

"Draco Malfoy don't you dare snap at me!" she bellowed out in a huff as she took her hand back to her side. She flushed red as she fumed eyes clearly angry but concerned at the same time.

"I was just trying to see if you were alright" she defended with an accusing tone in her voice. Yes, Hermione had always been one of the motherly type people amongst his circle of friends from the village.

The soft heartwarming laughter that came from the blonde made Hermione's anger melt away, the glare in her eyes turning into one of affection as she looked at her childhood friend.

"Ron is lucky to have you, Herm" she heard Draco say in between laughing fits. The blonde's hands were currently holding his stomach through his laughter.

"I hope the bloody weasel proposes to you soon, before another bloke sweeps you off your feet!" he said to her, trying to hide all signs of weakness by playing up his friend's soft spot—her lover Ron. The comment made Hermione blush!

It was true, even at a young age the girls in the village knew that they would be destined to marry a husband and usually it was one of their friends in the community. Love always blossomed from friendship.

"Yes well, he hasn't said a word yet" she answered him, giving him a soft smile while cocking her head to the side shyly as she thought of her future husband to be. There was a rush of blood to her cheeks making her face heat up with a blush. Draco smiled at her predictable reaction.

Yes, as smart as she was the only topic she which could transform her into soft pile of pudding was her lover, Ronald Weasley. This knowledge was especially useful when trying to get her motherly instincts off ones back and turn the normally level headed girl into a blushing school girl.

"I do hope he does propose to me soon!" she wooed out to no one in particular, the love glazed look in her eyes "I'm turning sixteen next month for crying out loud!"

Draco could almost laugh at her idly thinking. It had always been a custom for their people to marry young, most of the time at the tender age of sixteen. It was like a coming of age tradition for all those who seek adulthood.

Most of the girls dreamed that their future husbands would take them away before their sixteenth birthdays, and in most cases they had. Just last month Seamus married his best friend Nally, four days shy of her sixteenth birthday.

"Hermione" he started, completely breaking the girl's train of thought and making her turn back to him with a questioning look "Have you gone and visited my uncle today?"

The girl's reaction said it all.

"Oh shit!" she cursed furiously, mentally kicking herself at her lack of concentration.

"What is it?" the boy asked from beside her.

"The root crops!" she nearly yelled, dropping to her knees and placing the basket on the ground to examine its contents, checking whether or not she had gotten the roots which her mentor had instructed her to retrieve.

"Ah ha!" she said in a triumphant voice, locating a small ginger-like crop at the bottom of her basket along with come other ingredients needed to concoct the potion she was learning today. "I need to get this to your uncle"

She motioned, carefully placing the root back into the basket and folding a piece of checked blue fabric over the top of the container to keep dust from damaging the material. She quickly stood up and made her way to her mentor's.

"Wait!" Draco called from behind her, making her turn back to look at him "I'm going with you"

He quickened his pace to catch up to the rushing girl with out a moment to spare. After all, she could decide to suddenly speed up her walking if she grew impatient. Thankfully the girl waited for Draco to reach her side before moving again.

If Draco swung that way he would definitely, she would definitely be his ideal companion and possible marriage parted, but he preferred birds than bees any day!

They had arrived at Snape's enchanted laboratory within a few minutes. Hermione had respectfully called out to the potion's master as she walked through the enchanted doors.

"Professor!" her voice resounded through the enclosed space while she made her way through the shelves and shelves of potion ingredients which greeted them as they entered the laboratory.

"Thank you for this morning" Draco called out as well; making sure her voice was as loud as Hermione's. He reminded himself to keep calm as the object in jars because weirder and weirder with each passing shelf. The passage way was long and narrow, seemingly like a dark tunnel with only the light at the main mixing room illuminating the pathway.

Once inside the two were met by a fairly tall man with hair darker than the night itself.

"Granger" he greeted the girl with a nod, flicking his hand to the side and immediately a long table materialized beside his cauldron and motioning for arrange her ingredients on the table. Hermione bowed her head, setting out to do the task her mentor had just given out.

"Thank you again for this morning, Uncle" Draco said with a curt nod at his Uncle, who addressed him in the same manner.

"I'm sure Lucius had already paid for the charges, my boy" he replied, his voice still icy and emotionless, making the blonde boys slightly fidget at his gaze. Draco pressed his palms together once again remembering his Malfoy breeding from his childhood.

"Where is the boy?" he asked his uncle, careful not to let his voice betray him with any signs of emotion. Snape was taken aback by his nephew's sudden shift into cold demeanor as he let icy exterior to melt into a smile forming on his lips.

"Enough with the foolish act, Draco, I know well of this defense" he told the boy, as he took the wand from his rope and pointed to the wall. He uttered a soft incantation under his breath and immediately the rocks started to fold away to reveal a door.

"The boy's right over there" he pointed out, before returning to his work and letting Draco check on the brunette's condition.

Inside the small room was a simple bed, covered in white sheets and thick white blankets. He frowned as he noticed where his uncle had transported him to. It was Evelena Pomfrey's cottage; most people affectionately called her Madam Pomfey or Poppy for short.

The experienced witch took care of all their needs medically and his uncle supplied her with his potion. Surely it was only logical for his uncle to send the injured man here right? He found himself frowning, seeing all the village girls flocking over the brunette stranger. He would have to talk to Poppy about giving the deathly man more privacy in her cottage rather than letting the blushing girls gawking at him.

"Draco" he heard a voice call from behind him.

"Poppy!" he cried out, loosing his breath as the witch caught her in one of her lung crushing hugs.

"How have you been darling?" she asked him in her uncommon motherly tone, especially as she stressed her voice on the 'darling'. "I hope you're in the best shape you can, dearie"

"My, my" she shook her head in disappointment "You're thinning down quite a bit lad"

The sudden blast of questions and the flooding of questions made him momentarily disoriented, while he let his body do exactly as she told him.

"You need to ask your uncle for some more of that nutrient potion he always give you!" she said with a smile before turning her gaze to her latest patient. Her eyes widened with the sight of girls flocking over the sleeping stranger

"Oi! You lassies, get back outside and do you duties" she shooed them away, using her hands in a sweeping motion to her get her point across. "Before I tell your husbands to be that you've been fawning over this young gentleman here"

She dusted her hands off in victory with a smile on her face. Draco shuffled a laugh behind his fist at the sight. Yes, he admitted to himself that the brunette was very handsome sight. He just didn't imagine that it would affect those girls so strongly.

He watched as the muscles on the man's face hunch up into a scowl. "Poppy" he called out in an alarming tone, watching carefully as the boy began to stir awake.

"Poppy" he called again, just as the boy tried to stand up. Stood there, frozen as rock—unsure of what to do.

. . .

It was dark, he thought out. Cringing as he began to feel his aching muscles from beneath him. He felt strangely heavy, like his body was a ton of dead weight above him and preventing him to move. Trying to move his arms but terribly failing to move them at all.

A pain shot up his spine and he cringed again in pain giving out a soft moan of discomfort. "Poppy!" he could hear a voice calling out from above him. Who was it? He thought it sounded strangely familiar.

"Poppy" there was that voice again. Harry fought hard to remember where he had heard that commanding voice before. Who could it be? He started to stir awake, feeling his body burn with each attempts of movement.

He groaned out again, louder this time, testing his voice to see if it was still working. He tried to sit up—but stopped as he felt a warm hand on his chest to stop him. "Don't" he heard the voice say to him and he complied.

Madam Pomfrey almost ran into the room after hearing Draco's distressed voice from the second first floor.

"What's the matter dear?" she could barely ask, inhaling deeply obviously without breath from running down the staircase. She could see the boy's had his hand on her patient's chest, her mind clearly registering why as she watched the brunette's chest rise and fall in uneven breaths.

"He woke up didn't he?" she asked rhetorically as she made her way to the bedside and removed Draco's hand with her own, making the boy blush and retracting his hand back.

"Now stay calm darling" she whispered, checking Harry's vital signs for an abnormalities and releasing a relieved sigh when she found none.

"Okay dear you can sit up now" she told him, as she left to get a few potions.

Harry obediently followed her instruction, weakly getting up from his lying position. He tested out his muscles first, as a force of habit taught during his years of training in the castle. He always made sure to check if any part of his body hurt to make sure he hadn't overworked it the day before.

He opened his eyes last, his sight was blurry and the unfocused sight caused his head to throb a bit. He took a deep breath and then concentrated the magic flow into his eyes and he started to blink again, with each time his eyes growing clearer.

At the final blink his eyes were restored to their top condition. The first thing he saw was flashing silver eyes looking over at him with concern. That's when the etiquette instilled in him since birth kicked in. He smiled at the beautiful blonde stranger.

"My name is Harry" he said, offering his hand as a sign of friendship.

At first the blonde was shocked as he watched the injured man slowly get into a sitting position. Curiously he marveled at how fast the brunette had healed! Finally what caught him off guard were those enchanting green eyes that focused solely on him.

The stranger gave him a smile and offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you" he answered, taking the hand into his own. The smooth palm felt different against his rough palms. "I'm Draco" he said back. Suddenly the man in front of him was no longer a stranger to him.

"Would you like to come over for supper?"