Taking a Trip
Chapter 3: Camping out
When the boys awoke, they were tangled together. They both flushed and withdrew from each other.
After that they both washed up in the river as much as they could without taking their clothes off.
Once they finished, they both felt the eyes of another on them, and turned around looking at each other warily before turning back. They began to look for some food, giving up after looking for about 40 minutes, choosing to ignore their rumbling stomachs to instead decide on what to do.
"What are we going to do? What if those people or things come back? What if they find us? What if they kill us, Harry? What if-" Draco rambled nervously, his arms flying everywhere, before interrupted by Harry, who grabbed his arms and steadied them before looking Draco in the eyes.
"I don't know what we're going to do yet, nor do I know if they are coming back, or if they are going to find us or kill us," Harry moved his left hand from Draco's arm to cup his face, "But what I do know is that we have each other. And that's enough to keep us going so we can make it back to Hogwarts," Harry said quietly, calming Draco down.
Draco took long, deep breaths before resting his right hand on Harry's left hand, which is resting on Draco's face, and replying, "Okay, you're right. You're right, I'm sorry for freaking out like that, Harry." Draco moved his left hand to Harry's waist, holding on tightly.
Harry slowly moved forward, resting his forehead against Draco's. They stayed like that for a while before they let go of each other and continued to talk about what to do.
A little while later, when their stomachs were no longer something they could ignore, they searched for any berries or animals they could eat. They searched for about 10 minutes before they found a rabbit. They caught it and Harry killed it as Draco had refused, "I just don't want to do it, please don't make me do it, I can't do that again!" he had cried.
Harry wanted to ask why he reacted like that but thought it best for another time. Harry built a fire and cooked the rabbit, then halved the meat and gave some to Draco, then began to eat his share.
After they had eaten and washed up again, they both sat down near where the fire was, which had to be put out in case someone saw the smoke, and began to talk about random things like quidditch and their favourite classes and favourite professors, which led to a talk about Snape and his death and how brave he was, where Draco burst into tears and Harry cuddled him to comfort him.
By the time they spoke of Snape, the sun was already down, and after Draco had stopped crying, they both laid down next to each other, barely touching.
After a while, both were still awake, so Draco turned towards Harry, laying his head on his arm. Harry did the same towards Draco. They stared at each other for a while before Harry asked a question which had Draco tensing and wincing.
"Draco, why did you not want to kill that rabbit?"
Draco froze, "It's nothing, you don't care nor do you want to know," he replied before turning on his back again, staring at the treetops and the tiny hint of sky that he could see.
"Of course I care, I really do want to know because you worried me, Draco!" Harry said quietly, lifting himself up onto one elbow and staring down at Draco.
"Really?" Draco asked and Harry replied "yes."
"Why?" Draco asked, confused even though his heart was pounding in his chest.
"Because I care about you and the way you reacted, was not normal, Draco. Now please tell me what happened to you to make you not want to kill an animal." Harry replied quietly, resting his head on Draco's chest.
"Okay, well it started in the summer before our fifth year. My father always saw me as weak, but he never tried to change that about me. Until that summer. The minute I got home, he started 'training' me, as he called it." Draco said quietly, tears filling his eyes and blurring his sight. Harry moved his right hand to find Draco's left hand and grasped it tightly for support.
Draco took a deep breath then continued, "From then on every day I was home, he would take me to a-a f-field not far from our Manor but s-still in our wards so I-I-I could perform magic without the ministry knowing, and h-he would find small animals, like bugs a-and butterflies," he took another deep breath, tears falling from his eyes, "and rabbits. He placed them in front of me, and he would tell me the spell to use, mostly Unforgivables and make me either torture them or kill them straight away."
He took another deep breath, more tears falling, and gripped Harry's hand harder then continued, "Every day he forced me to kill innocent creatures, delicate creatures, and I couldn't do anything to make him stop forcing me because I was weak. I was a coward. I still am weak, and I still am a coward." He finished quietly, tears still running down his face.
"Stop it, you are not a coward, and you are not weak. You are a strong man, who has withheld countless tortures by his father and the dark lord himself, who was forced to try and kill one of his professors, a great and loyal mentor who has taught many his years, but in the end, he couldn't do it, not because he was weak, but because he was strong. you were strong enough not to kill someone who had been a part of your life for 6 years, teaching you and guiding you towards a path you would want to go down, one you chose for yourself, not a path that your father chose for you. And you were strong enough not to say those words that would've ended his life. And even though he's still dead, I am grateful and very proud of you for being so strong, Draco." Harry finished, tears streaming down his face by the end.
Draco was still crying, his eyes overflowing with tears.
"Thank-you, Harry," he whispered, gripping Harry's hand tightly. "Thank-you."
"You're welcome, Draco," he smiled, "Now let's get some sleep, okay?"
Draco nodded, wiping the tears off his own face then he wiped the tears off Harry's face and the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
