Chapter Eight: Run Away

Stained

Why the bloody hell did everything have to start this way? He would take a few steps forward only to have the ground sink out from under him. His life seemed to be repetitive like that. Harry could only hear what was happening around him, his mind still fogged and unable to process it properly. What exactly had happened in the forest with Dumbledore he wasn't sure. There had been darkness, not cold or warm, it simply was and he had been plummeting through it like a comet. It felt strangely comfortable, almost right. This was what scared him as well, that wherever he had been was not a place for living mortals and he had felt at home.

He was lying on something soft if not very wide and was thankful that it wasn't the floor like usual. A very irate voice had risen amongst the more worried ones. It was growing in volume as the person closed in on him. The voice was like silk being ripped in half, smooth but furious. Another irritated voice rose up as the others died off, saying, "Back off, Malfoy! He isn't even conscious yet."

"No, you back off, Weasley! I'm going to hex him awake, then I'll beat some sense into that worthless lightning bolt head of his!"

Opening his eyes was easy enough but the sudden light made it difficult to open them fully. The instant emerald met silver Draco threw himself past Harry's guard and grabbed hold of the front of his robes. "What the bloody hell's wrong with you? Huh? I told you to go! I get in one good shot, apparate to you and Granger, and you're NOT THERE! I told you to go but you never listen to anyone, do you? Because the great Harry-"

The screaming blonde was effectively silenced by Harry as he pulled the other boy to him, hugging him close. Draco melted into the hold for a moment, reveling in the solid contact. Harry was there, he was fine, he was a bloody idiot! Draco pulled back quickly and slapped the raven across the face. "Don't you ever go back for me or anyone else. Understand?"

With a hand to his stinging cheek, Harry nodded. The slap had been hard but it had been serious too, so he would not be mad about it. It wasn't in him to leave someone, anyone, behind but he wouldn't tell Draco at the moment. The blonde was still pretty pissed. Hermione and Ron nearly threw the Slytherin out of the way to embrace their friend. The second they pulled away Ron shot Draco a death glare and Hermione smacked her friend upside the head.

Whipping his head back to the brain, Ron looked at the girl in surprise. "Hermione!"

"Quiet, Ron," she ordered simply before turning back to the scar headed boy. "Listen to Draco! We didn't go through all the trouble of running away and saving you just so you could turn around and sprint towards danger."

Everyone was so angry. He looked at them all with an apology in his eyes as well as on his tongue. "I'm sorry. I couldn't leave him with Dumbledore. How are you all here? I thought Hagrid and McGonagall came for you at the station."

Nott growled from his perch across the car that they seemed to have clamed for themselves. The boy stood from his seat and approached the throng of people surrounding Harry, who was pulling himself up to sit on the seats. "We would have been taken if Loony hadn't dragged us onto a different train."

Luna showed no sign of being offended, but none of the others appreciated the rude nick name. It was going to be hard enough to get along as it was. Harry looked around, observing that everyone was okay, all heads and limbs were accounted for. It was a nice enough train, though far more modern than the one taken to Hogwarts. The entire car was well light with electricity, everything was sleek and new. Cho and Seamus were standing at the only doors as guards, watching for both train personnel and threats.

"If we're on a different train, then where are we going?"

"France," Luna answered simply, moving closer to him. "We can change trains there. I have some extra muggle currency, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay. What happened anyway?" he asked, looking for the Demon. She was seated near the window opposite him, now in a school uniform that had clearly been altered to fit her, the long red hair had been cut to waist length. The others had also removed their cloaks, probably by Hermione's instruction so they wouldn't stand out quite as much. They still needed to change into more muggle like clothing or anyone in the wizarding world would be able to recognize their uniforms.

He was taken from his thoughts when Blaise spoke. "We were hoping you could explain that one. You kind of fell out of a shadow in the corner of the station. Lucky we saw you or you would have been thoroughly screwed. I had to go back to tell Hermione and Draco."

Hermione blushed insanely at the use of her first name from the dark Frenchman. Harry saw it and would have laughed if it hadn't been a more serious situation. He looked at the red haired Demon. "What did you do exactly?"

She looked to her master with full attention. "I pulled you through the darkness. It is not so difficult for my kind. I would have revealed my presence sooner but the elder was waiting for me. I do not know what he would have done but he was planning something."

"Looked to me like you scared the life out of him."

She almost smiled and nodded. "Not quite, it was my intent to show him that I was dangerous. The sight of an emerging Demon has terrified many before."

Hannah spoke up, stuttering as she did. "So, w-what now?"

"We ride this train and then take the next one to Germany," He stated firmly. Leaning back into the seat to relax, he was surprisingly tired. Everyone dispersed, trying to find comfortable seats to rest in. Draco took the seat to his right, his face challenging anyone there to comment on it. Hermione sat on his left, a thick book appeared in her lap instantly. Though Harry knew she did not use magic to carry her books most of the time, it often seemed like she did. Ronald was pacing the car, full of nervous energy that would not yet be sated.

He tried to stay awake as long as he could, feeling that it was his responsibility to watch over the others. Also, it seemed that the dreams he had been having over the last couple weeks were even more bizarre than the ones he often had about Voldemort and, in some ways, far more frightening. Harry stared off into space, patiently waiting for the train to reach its destination. After an hour or so, Draco's head lulled and came to rest on Harry's shoulder and Hermione soon followed. The contact broke his blank stare, Harry looked around the train car, noticing that everyone but the two standing guard, who had changed to Dean and Blaise, were also sleeping. The only ones still awake that were not doing anything were himself and Exos.

Harry made a soft sound to draw her attention away from the window. When the red eyes were upon his, he asked softly, "Why don't you sleep?"

"Unlike most species, mine does not require regeneration through rest. All we need is a constant supply of life energy from our Masters."

"But, you don't all have Masters… Do you? I mean, you're the only Demon in this dimension, so how do your kin live?" He asked somewhat tentatively. For some reason it occurred to him that he might not be the best person to be interrogating the red haired creature. Someone smarter like Hermione or Remus, even Luna, would be able to come up with far better and more logical questions than he could.

This didn't seem to bother Exos though, as she drew in a low breath. "Do you know our history? How we came into being or what happened before we left this plane of existence?"

The quality to her questions far exceeded his. Deciding to be honest and gain as much information as he could, he shook his head a little, trying not to disrupt the other two heads resting on his shoulders. "All I really know is that you were here before humans and the Angels sent you away."

She nodded. "Both of those things are true, but there is a great deal more to us than that. You see, we were born with the earth and the sky. We have existed as long and it is most likely that there was nothing before. These were our forefathers though and they are long dead. Most that exist now are only a few millennia old. We were the oldest and most powerful, but all things change eventually. More life came into being and the world began to fill. We know not how you came into being, though, you look so much like us."

She paused in, what seemed to be, deep thought. Harry was unconsciously leaning toward her as far as he could. It was fascinating, like being told a fairytale he thought. Even if he had never experienced anything like that himself when he was young. She looked back at him and continued in her story.

"Now that I think about it, it is most likely that the similarity in appearance is what drew us to you. Both we and the Angels were taken with the fragility of your race, yet when given opportunity you proved capable of amazing things. Soon you started to grow in numbers. Almost terrifyingly so. We are dark creatures that loved to feed off of you weakers, would have fed from your blood for the rest of eternity. Our twin races are as polar opposites. They glide and sing, we thrash and scream. They are all for their tranquility while we love nothing more than blood mixed chaos. The angles wanted peace and detested bloodshed for many reason. Yet, in effort to allow your race to live, we went to war. The Angels had already chosen a home for themselves in another plane and they thought it wise to send us to one of our own. There were seven of them that proved particularly able to counter us. So, Briathos, Eae, Iaoth, Leo, Karael, Rathanael, and Rizoel threw us into the Dark."

Still engrossed in fascination, Harry had almost forgotten his original question. Exos was not the kind that usually lost herself in speech so the question was not ignored. The train rumbled just a little as she went on.

"You have many names for Death and often portray it as a male in a dark cloak. This is not necessarily right nor wrong. Death is as a god to you, it is constant, everlasting, and undeniable. Though one may push his hands away for a time, none can escape his tender grasp. He is like a father to us and the Angels. He was here even before we took our first breaths. I said that there was nothing before us and this is accurate; there was nothing but Death. When we came he took us as his children and taught us about the world. Those of us that loved his darker work were the ones that became Demons and those that respected his role in this universe were the Angels. Death is more a part of us than he is of you. This is why the only way for us to die is by killing each other or by our masters' blood. In the contract, you said, "Your life is mine. My death is yours." This made my life dependant upon yours. If you were to die, I would die."

Confusion and surprise flashed on Harry's face as the words he had heard in his mind were spoken back to him in clear English. "What do you mean, contract?"

"That is what the incantation that brought me to this plane is. A contract. It binds servant to master in both life and blood," she informed smoothly. It did surprise her that the one that was her master knew not what he had truly done and consoled herself with the decision to speak with the other participants later.

Looking to the curly haired burnet she said, "Would you like me to repeat the full incantation?"

Harry's eyes shot over to Hermione, whose head had not moved from his shoulder but was still taking frantic notes on a piece of parchment. When she felt his attention on her, she extracted herself from him and smiled a little sheepishly.

"I didn't want to disrupt the conversation, but yes," she said, redirecting her attention to Exos. "I would like to hear the incantation and would you be willing to give a descriptive account of the ritual?"

The pale face smiled ever so slightly, "You remind me of Barman."

Hermione sat up with even more intrigue. "Barman?"

"He is the Angel of intelligence. I remember him, always with his questions. It often seemed that he had a quill and paper physically attached to his hands. He was an annoyance to many of us but always helpful," she informed.

The girl wasn't sure if she should be offended or flattered. She eventually decided that neither was quite appropriate since the Demon had simply made an observation of similar natures and not an outright compliment. She moved to sit a few seats away from the creature, still not comfortable with being too close, and continued her questions throughout the ride.

As he watched the two females interacting, Harry leaned his head down to the blonde hair that was so close to his face. He breathed in Draco's fragrance once again, thinking that he really loved that smell more than any other he had smelt before. It was effeminate but strong, and you could only smell it when you were close enough to the owner that you could touch him. Not brave enough to actually try sleeping, Harry let his mind wonder into a fog.

Draco was wide awake, with that thing so close he would die before sleep. He had learned more about Demons and their nature than he truly wanted to know. Learning about dark creatures, even ones that he might never meet in his entire existence, was just something that came with being a Pure Blood. He could even tell Granger about half of what the creature was saying to her. The blonde felt a gentle breath on his head and knew that the raven was breathing him in. He smirked evilly in happiness as he realized that the Gryffindor might actually have an attraction to him. No matter how far he came, he was still a Slytherin and if pursuing the great Harry Potter in a romantic sense would keep him and his companions safer, he was not above using the opportunity for preservation. Draco felt the slightest pang of guilt as he thought about using the green eyed boy in such a way. He had begun to see him as a person more than some kind of pompous idol and couldn't say that he completely disliked him. He had started to become physically attracted to Harry but this said nothing about an emotional attraction, and emotions were certainly part of the Gryffindor characteristics.

He realized how true this was as he watched the dark skinned lion exchange his post with the most cowardly of the pride. Once Longbottom had taken his position, Thomas seated himself next to the Irishman, his dark eyes tracing the face again and again until they started to droop and his head fell upon the headrest. The attraction was so blatantly obvious he wondered how it was even possible to ignore it, then remembered the thick headedness that accompanied that emotional attribute. Yet, what he saw next was one of the most surprising things he had seen in all his life. As Pansy took the place of Blaise, she stared down the isle directly at Longbottom. She stared and looked, clearly thinking deep thoughts meant only for herself, for a full five minutes. Since when had his friend taken an interest in the boy? Granted he had become more attractive over the years they had spent at school, but it seemed to Draco that the personality just didn't fit one that would usually perk Pansy's interest. Then again, he had also noticed Blaise's constant flirtation with Granger of all people. Now his mind was submerged in wondering just when his housemates had deigned it safe to play with lions.

Soon the blonde boy had no energy left for his complex thoughts and was forced to either drift or sleep. So, his mind started to float about, toward the many uncomfortable topics that he had been avoiding, like his parents, Severus, the Dark Lord, and that crazy old bastard. He still felt like beating Harry just to make sure that the young man got it into his head that he was not supposed to be endangering his life. That may have been common with his flimsy friends that would do whatever his great presence beckoned but it was going to change with Draco. The statement was not entirely accurate he knew and was still in a bit of a bitchy mood.

Eventually, a stewardess came around with her cart. A scarce few of the group made their request for nourishment. Luckily, they were mostly common enough things like water, coffee, or some cookies. It was only when Lavender asked for a Sugar Quill that the girl was given an odd look. Candies, however, can be strange in both appearance and name and also vary all over the world, so this was not quite so strange as many of the other things that could have occurred with the mostly ignorant group.

Once the woman was gone they settled in again. Exos placed a glass of water on the foldable tables in front of both Harry and Draco. She did not speak but it was clear enough what she wanted them to do without verbal actions. The two males put their pale fingers in the glasses and concentrated to the best of their abilities. The state of the water in the glasses did not change which frustrated Harry more than Draco. He knew he was able to at least change the temperature so it irritated him greatly that he was unable to do so again.

"Anything," he asked the blonde. Draco scowled slightly which seemed to translate to a 'no.' "What do you think about when you're doing this?"

"I don't think about anything. I will the water to change," the other growled. It was starting to piss him off, if the damned thing said he should be able to do it then why couldn't he?

Harry looked away from the ivory face. He twirled his finger around in the water, trying to think of something that would encourage it to change. Soon he settled on Dumbledore and, later, Voldemort. They both angered him greatly and, to some degree, scared him. As he thought about his past with both men and did his best to decipher their complex relationship with what little new information he had. It was disturbing to him that the man he had idolized was willing to sacrifice people in order to achieve his end, even if he believed it was for the greater good. As the thoughts of the men and their sacrifices floated in his mind, he felt his blood begin to chill in anger. Apparently, the water had the same reaction, because no sooner had he felt a deep vein of rage burst in him than his finger stopped moving. The water had frozen solid, trapping his finger in the glass.

He hissed his surprise and irritation. "Damn."

Draco looked from his own work to see what had bothered the boy when he himself stopped moving all together. "What the hell? How did you do that, Potter?"

Harry squirmed under the glare that was prodding him. Luna approached the pair as though in slow motion, placing the tip of her wand on the ice, which melted instantly. "Harry found a method that works for him. Emotions can be very strong."

The raven looked back at the blonde with an apologetic face. He really was sorry that he had somehow made Draco seem less than him, that was not his intent. Draco wasn't looking at him though, he was concentrating on his own water and trying to use his current irritation to alter it.

The pale girl shook her head. "No, if you're going to use emotions they must be strong."

"I think my irritation is plenty strong, thank you, Lovegood," he snipped.

She shook her head slowly, everything she did was oddly sloth like, possibly, because she was quite tired herself. The blonde girl leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Try something that makes your insides squirm."

The sentence seemed very creepy coming from the aloof Ravenclaw. To avoid truly thinking about what she had said, Draco grabbed his glass and downed the water in one go, then glared at her. She smiled and drifted toward Hermione and Exos, seating herself only a seat away from the red. The train became quietly still in both nervousness and exhaustion. As the children that could were lulled into sleep by the motion of the train, the others avoided eye contact while their minds drifted toward the abyss.

The sun was nowhere near the horizon when the train stopped and everyone filed out. The platform was flowing with people but not yet packed with commuters. Hermione, who had not even thought of sleeping since she started talking to Exos, stood near the center of the group with energy that made them glare at her as much as the sun.

"We're going to take the next train to Germany that leaves in two hours. We'll buy our tickets, get some food, and come back," she instructed flawlessly.

Harry spoke up. "We should get into some other clothes too. We're a little conspicuous dressed like this, don't you think?"

The brunet smiled at him. "Of course, some of us have muggle clothes with us. We can share and buy cheap clothes for the others. Let's go, quickly."

Luna trudged back to them, though no one was quite sure when she'd left, tickets in hand. They were distributed individually and group split into genders, all heading for the bathroom to change. The boys took far less time than the girls, emerging in everyday jumpers and jeans. People such as Draco, Zabini, Nott, and even Neville, had no such clothes. With a little persuading for two and a great deal of pestering for the other, three were soon wearing donated clothes from their schoolmates. Draco stood firmly, stating that he would not dress in someone else's clothes, never mind that they were muggle made. He even glared at Ron's jumper as though it intended to come alive and bite him. So he wore only his trousers and slightly unbuttoned, un-tucked shirt.

The girls did take their sweet time, fixing their makeup or rinsing out their mouths while they dressed. Most had few qualms about sharing clothing of any kind so they were eventually dressed. Luna managed to somehow stand out even though she had dressed in normal clothes. Her long white skirt, paired with a white jumper which had embroidered wings on the back, and matching boots. Over all, the girl looked like she was ready for a Winter Pageant. The others tended to stick to skirts but did dress more like muggle girls.

Once all were dressed and ready they left for a deli on the streets, relying on Luna to pay the bill and Hermione to know how. Their meals were simple and quick so that they would be able to catch the train to Germany, which would be leaving in less than half an hour. With their appetites satisfied they left the little shop, the sky was still dark and filled with stars but it would not be long before they would disappear. The station had become surprisingly fuller in the short time they had been gone. With their tickets in hand they tried to push their way to the train. Over the audio speakers, a woman announced that their train would be departing within the next five minutes.

As the doors closed the group sighed in relief, things had gone fairly smooth since they had regrouped. It was going so well that Harry was starting to feel edgy. Never had things in his life just gone smoothly. Still there was no disturbance to indicate that there was something off about what was going on around them.

They sat in a tight group in one of the cars, unable to acquire their own since there were now more people riding than before. The train started to move, the noise toned down as people took their places and settled in for the ride. Twelve minutes of peace existed for the exhausted teenagers, the warmth and steady motion a comfort that was very tempting to follow into sleep. Soon, Neville had to get up to use the restroom before truly relaxing. As he closed the door behind him, intent on walking back to his friends, he heard a fluttering of robes coming from down the isle. He turned to look and saw four men in dark robes strolling towards him. They did not seem to notice the mousy boy as they were too busy trying to get through the somewhat crowded isle to look up at that second.

Neville rushed through the door, nearly slamming it shut behind him. The group was at the other end of the car and the ones facing him looked up with concern when he came rushing towards them.

Hermione stood up to address him. "Neville, what's the matter?"

"There are people coming. I think they're Aurors," he whispered to them, as though the men could here him from wherever they were in the other car.

Harry stood with Hermione and the others started to wake people, drawing their attention to the situation. They got up and quickly started to file down toward the back of the train. As Crabb exited the car, Luna and Harry just behind him, the other door slid open to reveal the men from before. The instant their eyes met the cloaked men increased their walking speed.

Harry turned around shouting, "Run!"

They were flying down the aisles, trying to avoid obstacles such as luggage and people.

They had only made it to the end of the next passenger car when the doors behind them were flung open to reveal the men. They started running as fast as they could, the Aurors only paces behind them now. Faster and faster they ran, to the very end of the train. The group pushed through to the luggage car which was nearly pitch dark.

Luna, Pansy, and Neville were the closest to the large door through which the bags were loaded. As they all pressed in as close to the door as they could, awaiting their attackers, there was a disturbance at the other end where more of the Aurors came running straight for them. Exos stood in front of her master and was quickly joined by Draco and Hermione. Harry pulled out his own wand but had trouble finding a space between his defenders.

"Lower your wands and come with us peacefully, children. No one needs to get hurt," one of the less seasoned Aurors with strawberry blonde hair instructed.

The group didn't budge. Neville used the wall of people in front of him to hide is actions. While they had their stand off, he was feeling along the wall in the dark, looking for the handle to the door. By the time the other Aurors had joined the gathering he had unlocked it and had the handle in his hand.

He leaned close to Vincent whispering, "When I say go, grab as many as you can and follow me."

The stout young man didn't indicate that he understood, he simply looked to Gregory while grabbing hold of Hannah's arm. The other boy imitated him, sliding an arm around one of the other party members. Their gathering of people was so smooth that the people standing in front of them didn't even notice, though they may have been more concerned with Harry and Draco.

"Like hell," Draco retorted with poison on his tongue.

Hermione attempted to be a diplomat again. "We aren't doing anything wrong. We can talk and sort this whole thing out."

A man with spiky brown hair nodded saying, "Sure, princess. Let's talk this out, no reason to get all anxious, right?"

Two of the flanking members of the adult group grinned viciously, not even trying to hide the fact that they were about to attack the students. The train jerked swayed slightly and the light blinked for a moment. In that moment, binding spells were screamed and Neville took his opportunity.

"Go," he shouted as he threw the sliding door to the side, grabbed the nearest person and threw himself from the train. The others followed shortly after, most of them jumping themselves or being pushed out by their comrades. They hit the ground running, literally for a few. As soon as they had managed to right themselves they were off, into the woods that they had been passing through when they jumped. None of them knew if everyone was with them or how far behind them the Aurors were. They were just running.

This chase in the dark was far too familiar to Harry. He knew this wasn't his dream, his friends were running somewhere near by, he wasn't changing into an animal, and Voldemort was nowhere near by. Still, as he ran from their pursuers, he felt the creeping feeling of panic. He was in the back of the fleeing group, having been one of the last to eject himself from the train. The trees were whipping past them as they ran desperately for escape.

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him and spun on his still moving heal to catch a glimpse of a stone-faced man coming up behind him. He shouted something that he couldn't quite hear over the pounding of his heart and the man dropped to the ground, growling in anger. He didn't stop long enough to think about what he had done to the man. It was only a few minutes before he was too winded to run anymore. Dropping to the ground near a tree, he tried to stay still and silent.

He could hear the pounding of feet on the leaf covered ground and nothing else. The man he had attacked was no longer growling. The black haired boy tried to slow his breathing in the chilly dark. The feet grew further and further away. Once everything was silence, he tentatively stood. Seeing no danger, he was about to start running again when he felt the tip of a wand at the back of his neck.

"No reason to keep running, Potter. We aren't going to hurt you. We're just sent here to take you back to school. Do you remember? Draco Malfoy is not your friend, you don't want to go with him." The words were spoken steadily, in an awful hollow voice. This person didn't care if they had to hurt him to get him to go, they just knew it wouldn't cause as much of a fuss.

He couldn't reach for his wand, he wasn't even sure it was wise to turn around. "Draco is my friend. I won't go back to that dungeon."

"Friends don't put friends in dungeons," the voice said almost mockingly.

"Draco didn't put me anywhere. The dungeon is that castle…Where everything you say is heard by someone and they always know where you are and what you're doing." If he could get the Auror to drop his guard just a little, maybe he could make a grab for his wand.

"I believe that's for your protection, young man."

"I know."

There was a bolt of blue light and the wand was gone from his neck. Harry turned around to see the man on the ground unconscious and Ron standing a few trees to the right. The red head ran to his friend and grabbed his arm, dragging him further into the trees. They stopped after about half a mile in a small glade. As they caught their breath, bodies started sneaking out from behind the trees.

When Draco saw Harry he marched straight up to him. His hair was mussed and his clothes covered in dirt and leaves. "What took you so long?"

Harry panted a little as he looked into the silvery eyes that sparked quite unhappily. "One of them caught up with me."

"He had a wand pressed to Harry's neck. I got there in time to stun the bastard," Ron supplied incredulously, as he looked at the people gathered around them.

Draco's face contorted in anger. "Where was that Demon of yours? I thought her job was to protect you."

The black haired boy shook his head, he didn't know where Exos had disappeared to. The only ones that seemed to have made it off the train without landing in a pile of limbs were Luna and Seamus. The others were a little rumpled and would probably sport a few bruises but nothing too bad. There was a rustle near by and Exos appeared, again in her black robes.

The Slytherin Prince rounded on the creature, growling, "Where were you? They almost got him."

Her red eyes slid from one pale face to another. She stepped a little closer saying, "I was disposing of our pursuers."

"Well, clearly you weren't doing a very good job!"

Eyes widened but no one dared to gasp. Hermione stepped up to the pair that seemed to be having something of a stare down. "Um, that's not what Draco means. He's just worried-"

"Butt out, Granger. I know what I'm saying and what I mean by it. It's this beast's job to protect your Wonder Boy and she is doing a poor job. The only reason he wasn't taken is because Weasley happened to be there," he ranted.

The red eyed Demon got in his face now, just a breath away from touching him. "I am only capable of so much. You old bloods think you know everything about the darkness but you only know glimpses of what it holds and what it really is. I am not some god sent here to alter the realities of the world in order to save my Master. I am a guardian and teacher, that is all I can be."

Draco didn't back down, it didn't matter that the thing was so close that he could see where the pupils should have been in her eyes or that he was scared as hell. He was pissed, she was supposed to be powerful enough to protect her master at all times and Harry was a walking target. She shouldn't have been allowed to travel ten feet from his side.

"I don't care if you're not a deity. Stay with him. It's your job to protect him, not ours." The Gryffindors looked at each other and gesturing toward Draco subtly as they were able.

She lowered her voice to a dangerous purr that sounded more like a growl. "Would you prefer that I watch over him when he goes into the shower? Or when he shares a bed with you? It doesn't really matter what you want because I do not follow your orders, but it would be wise for you to keep in mind that I could be anywhere and I am far more perceptive than you would wish for me to be."

As Draco looked on with wide angry eyes she stepped past him toward Harry who was not liking the exchange at all but wasn't willing to get in the middle. The silent conversation between the lion house was cut short when Pansy decided it was time for progress to be made.

The black haired girl took a step out of the ring that had unintentionally been formed to address the group. "So, what now? The Aurors won't be following us for a while I take it. Should we begin walking before others come or should we wait about like useless pixies?"

Hermione looked at the sky briefly, measuring the placement of the stars with where they had come from. "We only made it about five or so miles out of the city. If we aren't careful we'll probably run into some people living out here. We could head back to Paris or we could continue to follow Canis Minoris until we reach another town. Either way, we'll need somewhere to rest soon."

Harry looked about them but saw only trees, no lights indicating civilization. "How far is the next town?"

"Ten miles from Paris, so about fifteen."

He hughed in frustration. "It will probably be easier to hide in a large city. We'll walk back to Paris and rent a room. After we rest for a bit we'll start walking to Germany."

"Walking!" Seamus exclaimed.

"We can't take the train again. Can any of you drive?" Silence and some confusion met him. "Alright then. We're walking, let's go."

They marched in the silent darkness of the woods. None were in the best shape to be making such long treks at the moment anyway, with such little sleep and having just jumped out of a moving train. People don't do that and walk away with no injuries at all. Thankfully, it hadn't reached top speeds when they had so ungracefully flung themselves from it. Otherwise they would have been a lot worse.

Harry eventually fell somewhat behind the rest, though he didn't notice their eyes on him. Exos walked at the very back of the lot, as a tactical method. He wasn't worried about her seeing what he was about to do as he was the others. He pulled out the lighter and cigarettes he had in his pocket and lit one, taking a deep breath of the smoke. After a couple drags, Draco had fallen back to walking next to him.

"You know you're lucky they're up wind from you. If they smelt that smoke they would be all over your worthless arse," he informed as he wrapped his arms around himself against the chilling wind.

The black haired boy looked at the cherry end of the stick. "Still mad at me?"

"Do you run around screaming for the attention of ever dangerous thing in the universe or does your luck just suck this much?"

He glared at the offending cherry as it fell to the ground. "Well, you know how much of an attention deprived orphan I am."

Draco fell quiet at the bitter sarcasm. It was true though, Harry was an attention deprived orphan. He needed so desperately for someone to pat him on the shoulder and tell him what a good job he had done that he didn't seem to even realize how his pain affected others. So long as he took care of other people it didn't seem to matter all that much what happened to him. The snake in Malfoy's gut coiled at the thought.

"I'm not exactly angry. I just don't understand how you draw so much danger," he said in a less threatening tone.

Harry drew in another lungful. "It's real easy. All I have to do is breath and buildings start to fall in around me."

"Enough of the sarcasm, Potter. It doesn't suit you." He waved a hand at the smoke that curled around his face as Harry blew it out. The blonde coughed a little in offence.

"Don't call me that."

"What? Potter?"

The slightly shorter boy nodded.

"It's your name."

"We've shared a bed and you've saved my life once or twice now. I think we can call each other by our first names, can't we?"

Saying that Draco was shocked was certainly an understatement. He drew his eyes back to their normal size and struggled to find an argument for why they should never call each other by their first names when Granger came rushing up to Harry.

The crazy haired brunet did exactly as Draco had done only days before. She grabbed the cigarette from his lips and threw it to the ground, though she stomped on it for good measure. "Harry, since when do you smoke?"

She sounded quite angry, or was it disappointed? But the male didn't look away as he kept on walking. He met her eyes straight on stating, "A couple months now. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal! It's very unhealthy, you could get any number of cancers. Plus, your teeth will change color and rot." He sometimes forgot that her parents were dentists, but it was instances like this that he was reminded.

The others had all stopped walking to watch the exchange. Ron was walking up to the two, looking like he was going to start in on the boy too, but when he met them he took a hold of Hermione's arm and pulled the girl away, shaking his head. He sent a look to Harry as he left, clearly indicating something that Draco couldn't understand. They walked on into the night, closer and closer to the blaring sounds of the waking city.


A/N: Canis Minoris - the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, "The Little Dog". Easily visible with the naked eye.

Barman – Angel of Intelegence