A/N: Hey all! This is the third chapter! I just wanted to say for those of you who've read the original version, this is where deviations start to happen in a more serious manner. It's still the same story, but I've chosen to cut out and rearrange some things. So yeah. I don't own anything, enjoy!
A Forest Somewhere, At Night
Draco smiled contentedly as he walked through the dark forest; the trees were so thick he only occasionally caught glimpses of the sky, and the ground was covered in a thick blanket of moss. He didn't know how he'd gotten here, but for some reason that didn't seem to matter. The air around him was still, completely devoid of sounds, and Draco found it quite peaceful. His pace was slow as he traipsed through the woods, and he idly noticed there was a clearing up ahead. Sitting down on the comfortable moss, Draco looked up; this was the first unimpeded view of the sky he'd had since arriving here. Not that he could quite remember when that was. The sky was beautiful, completely clear of any clouds, leaving him with a clear view of the stars. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, but his eyes suddenly locked on the a flash of movement on the edge of the clearing. Hidden in shadows right past the edge of the treeline, something was watching him; he could see its green eyes, glowing brightly, the only part of its body that was visible. Draco stood up slowly and cautiously walked towards the first sign of animal life he'd seen in the forest. Normally he would never have thought of doing something so reckless, but deep down Draco felt nothing but complete safety.
Stopping only a few steps away from the trees, Draco spoke, his voice soft and what he hoped was soothing. "Hey, you can come out. I won't hurt you, you don't have to be afraid."
Draco's assumption that he was prepared for what would come out was flawed; for when the creature slowly stepped forward into the light he could not help but gasp, taken aback by how magnificent it looked. It, he, had great black wings, the feathers of which looked incredibly soft. His entire body seemed streamlined and predatory, but beautiful at the same time. He was also not expecting the sheer size of the creature, who towered over him, and who's wings made for an imposing silhouette.
After taking a brief second to recover from the surprise, Draco smiled widely and spoke once again, speaking in the same soft tone. "Hi… I'm Draco," he said, awkwardly holding out his hand and receiving only a glance in return. Only slightly phased, he tried again, "What's your name?"
In response the creature simply reached out his (apparently clawed) hand, and took ahold of Draco's. As soon as he did, a rapid sequence of random sights, sensations, and sounds flickered through Draco's head. It was an odd experience, because they went by too fast for Draco to fully register, and he got the feeling that this was because they were compressed somehow.
Looking all the way up at the imposing creature, Draco laughed slightly and gave an amused smile. "Unfortunately I can't exactly say that. Do you have any other name? Anything that I could call you?"
The creature cocked its head to the side slightly, briefly considering Draco's words, before opening his mouth, and saying in the most perfect voice Draco had ever heard, "Harry."
Smiling widely, Draco pulled Harry into the middle of the clearing, delighted to have a new friend.
Somewhere Else, At The Same Time
In a small cave, lit only by the light of a single fire, hung an elaborate tapestry. It was woven in a wide variety of strands, most of it seemingly lacking any pattern whatsoever. In the middle of it however, there was a pattern, and it seemed to be moving. It showed a forested clearing, in which a young boy stood; standing in front of him was a tall inhuman creature. The young boy's lips were moving, and it appeared he was talking to the creature in front of him. After the boy stopped, the creature's lips moved as well, and if an observer was a talented lip reader, they would have been able to make out the word "Harry."
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the chamber, emanating from an unseen source. "Tch tch. Now that won't do at all." The voice sounding annoyed, but that could have easily been misconstrued, as it also sounded almost amused. "Can't be having that little tidbit getting out. Not yet."
A hand reached towards the tapestry, needle and thread held pinched between two fingers. After a brief moment of adept stitching, the hand retreated, leaving a glossy black thread stitched over the mouth of the young boy.
"There," spoke the voice once more, "Much better."
A Forest Somewhere, At Night
Draco ran through the dark forest excitedly, somehow managing to never trip over any of the protruding roots that were everywhere around him. He quickly reached the clearing in the woods, skidding to a halt before looking around happily, before a pouty look spread across his face.
"Stoooop hiiiding frooom meee!" Draco whines almost petulantly, glaring at the creature as it emerged from the trees. "I told you not to do that!"
A touch from the creature and sorrow washed over Draco, a clear apology in the feeling. Giving a quick laugh, Draco smiled, the pout melting off of his face. "I was just kidding! You're so serious!"
Draco had been doing this for the past couple of nights, excitedly rushing here after he realized the first visit had been a dream. He didn't know how or why this was happening, but he was thrilled nonetheless, constantly delighted by his new friend. He always felt happy and safe in the forested dream, never managing to stay angry for long. Every night, Draco had been returning to this clearing and telling Harry about how his day had gone, rambling on and on to the listening creature, only stopping occasionally to answer a question, most of which he had to work out from the visions and emotions the creature transmitted. Tonight though, Draco had a different idea.
Looking up into Harry's glowing green eyes, Draco spoke, asking the question he had on his mind. "Is there anywhere else we can go? I know this is a dream, but do you have any other places you hang out?"
His friend simply looked at Draco for what felt like several minutes, before nodding; moving faster than Draco could process, Harry's arms wrapped around him from behind, and his wings closed around them, blocking Draco's view of the outside world. When his wings withdrew, they revealed a completely different yet equally beautiful landscape; the two of them perched standing on a hill above a marvelous lake, extraordinary mountains rising up all around them. Frozen for a moment in awe, Draco quickly turned around and tackled Harry with a hug. Or, well, he tried to. The creature simply caught Draco mid air, wrapping his arms around him in a firm but gentle grip. Pouting once again, Draco accepted his defeat and settled comfortably into Harry's arms, recounting the tale of his boring day to a raptly listening audience.
The Department Of Mysteries, June 11th, 4 AM
Nothing! As far as Lucius could tell, there was absolutely nothing in the entire Department library that matched the description of the creature. He'd even conscripted some of the Unspeakables to help his search, realizing on the second day this would take forever otherwise. And yet, still he'd found nothing, just an ancient record predating the ministry that such a creature existed, which was unhelpful given the lack of any additional information or even a name! Irritatedly flooing out of the Ministry building, Lucius exited into the Gringotts lobby. He would check the Malfoy vaults briefly, at which point he would go home and see his family for the first time in days.
Malfoy Manor, Narcissa Malfoy's Private Study, June 12th, 11AM
Narcissa looked pensively at the letter on her desk. She had only half expected to receive anything from the sender, and now that she had she didn't know how to feel. The letter was written in a cramped yet elegant script, and though it bore no signature, she was almost painfully aware of who had sent it.
Dearest Narcissa,
I must say, it warms my heart that you felt able to write to me for help, even with the differences we may share. I wish that I could be of help to you, but I must regretfully say that I doubt I can do much without seeing the creature firsthand. On a completely unrelated note, Hogwarts is always open to visitors, even during the summer, and if somebody were to ask nicely enough, I'm almost positive you could convince one of the faculty members to give you a tour. Once again I would like to apologize for my inability to be of assistance at the current time, but should I find anything I will make sure to send it your way.
Sighing, Narcissa massages her forehead with one hand as she considered the letter's contents once more. It was clearly supposed to be a hidden invitation, though only a Gryffindor would consider that subtle, so now Narcissa had to consider whether help from this particular Gryffindor was worth the hassle. She'd certainly thought so when she'd sent a letter requesting it. Sighing, she folded up the letter and set it ablaze with a quick flick of her wand, watching it quickly burn to ash in front of her. She'd take Draco to Hogwarts tomorrow, though she'd have to try and make sure Lucius didn't find out about it; he was unlikely to be pleased if he did.
A Forest Somewhere, At Night
Draco sat cross-legged, looking at the creature in front of him, irritatedly complaining about his failure, once again, to successfully pull off the Summoning charm. His mother had told that it was nothing to be ashamed of (it was not a spell most first years learned after all) but the books in the Malfoy library called it relatively simple, and barely a step above Wingardium Leviosa. He was just starting to build up steam in his rant about magic being unreasonably hard when he realized something: he'd never seen Harry do magic of any kind, well besides the teleportation thing, but that didn't count.
"Can you do magic?" Draco asked, his irritation forgotten to this bout of sudden curiosity. Receiving a yes in return, his eyes lit up, excitement shining on his face. "Can you show me!"
Cocking its head to the side, the creature drew its hand across the mossy floor of the clearing, and a fascinated Draco watched as beautiful roses sprouted up from the ground where his hand had touched it. With another tap on the ground, wood sprang stand up from the moss, forming an exquisite wooden seat, which happened to be extremely comfortable he found out as he rushed over to try it out. The rest of the dream was spent with the creature amazing Draco with random acts of magic, delight evident in his face the entire time.
A/N: Ok so this chapter ended up around 1k words shorter than the other two and I'm not that happy about it, but the next bit should be longer, and I did want to get this up tonight. Now, a few things I wanted to mention, mainly concerning the acknowledgment of the fact that the creature's name is Harry. If it wasn't abundantly clear already, the creature is indeed Harry Potter. There is a reason for that, blah blah blah, you'll find it out later. What I wanted to address is the fact that Draco knows that his friends name is Harry, but not that he's Harry Potter. The entire world thinks he's dead and hasn't had a reason to believe otherwise, so he's not a massive cultural icon, he's a hero who tragically lost his life as a child. So Draco wouldn't have connected the dots at all. I think that's all I wanted to say. I hope you enjoyed it, leave your thoughts and questions and whatever else in the comments. Toodles!