Chapter Ten:
By Your Side
A/N: Please read, REVIEW, and enjoy! ^_^ Thank you so much to all of my reviewers! This chapter song is by Tokio Hotel.
I don't want to cause you trouble,
Don't wanna stay too long,
I just came here to say to you
Turn around, I am here
If you want it's me you'll see,
Doesn't count, far or near
I can hold you when you reach for me.
XXXX
"Igor, how much longer must we wait for him?"
Draco and Harry snapped apart immediately, their lips swollen and cheeks flushed, breathing heavily they stared wide-eyed in understanding at one another.
"What is His will, we must follow. Remember Broadmoore?" the other said pointedly.
Fenrir Greyback lowly growled, "He trusts us more than that, we are of His innermo-" he hissed until the shuffling of feet halted to a stop.
"Do not assome we are in His favour, like a damned fool, Fenrir! The only one who has exceptions is Himself and Potter," he spat in response.
"Quickly now," Draco whispered, pulling at Harry's wrist.
In response, Harry shook his head roughly and pressed his free hand across Draco's mouth, silencing him. He shuffled them closer to the wall opposite of Greyback's office. He brought Draco to be pressed against his front, his back hard on the cold, corridor wall. He peered astutely over Draco's shoulder as Greyback and Karkaroff became visible from down the hallway.
"We must wait until we are given orders, otherwise severe consequences may arise," Igor continued authoritatively.
"But Potter's in our grasp! What are we waiting for?" Fenrir clenched his teeth.
Igor came to a stop outside of the others office doors and crossed his arms, he looked down his nose at the werewolf and scowled. "For our Lord to regain His strength. He wants Potter to Himself and we shall give Him what He wishes,"
"And how much more time will be wasted?"
"His Lord estimates no later than Beltane," the Headteacher sighed and brought two fingers to rub his temple, "It is best to continue waiting Fenrir, do not let your personal advances get in the way of the larger picture,"
Fenrir pursed his scarred lips and narrowed his eyes, "Of course, sir, and wait we will," "Just keep Potter under close surveillance," Harry felt Draco tense in front of him, pressing harder against him as his hands lightly gripped his own arms.
"And of Malfoy Junior? Any advances on his motives, has the Lord mentioned or passed along information of his mission here with Potter?" Greyback inquired curiously.
"Nothing. But all of Malfoy Senior's missions have been kept promptly shadowed from us for their reasons. If it involves Malfoy and Potter, it must be of great importance. We shall not interfere,"
"Does Severus or the Lord know how close Malfoy has come to the Golden Boy, 'eh? I never see them apart. What could Draconis' mission be that requires Potter's constant presence? And remember the incident a week ago? He protected his well-"
"We must not interfere!" Igor snapped, "Is that understood Greyback?"
Fenrir regarded him coolly, "Yessir, the will of our Lord be done," he bowed his head slightly before glaring up at the Headteacher.
"Good evening Greyback. And if you ever have further doubts of what has been planned, I will not pause to inform Wormtail and the others of your queries," he threatned before turning on his heel and stalking down the hallway.
Fenrir stayed outside of his office, grumbling to himself. When the Headteacher was no longer in the corridor, he sniffed and pierced his eyes around to where Harry and Draco stood shrouded by the Invisibility Cloak. They held their breaths, eyes widened. Surveying the area carefully, Fenrir finally grumbled and stepped into his office.
Draco pushed back slightly from Harry and glowered downwards, "What are you getting at?" he hissed in a whisper.
Harry blushed lightly, "You have to understand Draco, I need to figure out what Voldemort's planning,"
"But do not risk your own safety in the process! What if he noticed we were there? What then, hrm?" Draco shook his head, "You are unbelievable. We should have left,"
"Then we wouldn't have found out what we did!" Harry countered, as Draco began leading the way haughtily back towards the Aequor Tower.
"Which was what, exactly? I fail to see the point. We already knew all of that,"
"No, now we know that he plans to attack on Beltane, and by then I should be back with Dumbledore, thankfully. Next time I goto visit, I'll tell them,"
"Can't you just Owl them?" Draco asked.
"Dumbledore thinks Igor's having the Owls monitored so I don't recieve or send any post," Harry explained.
Draco shot him a curious look over his shoulder, "Honestly?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah. I think they wanna keep me as far out of reach as possible I guess," he shrugged, looking down at his feet walking instep closely behind Draco's.
"Did they tell you anything else?"
"Not really, no. Though Dumbledore thinks using the incident last week during the trial would be of great use to our advantage. And I was glad to see Remus and Sirius, not to mention Ron and Hermione," he frowned at that. He really wished he could have spoken to his friends more. A quick glimpse made him miss them all that much more.
"That's good, I hope we can get you out of here sometime soon Harry because I haven't any idea what I would do with myself if something happened to harm you again," Draco admitted as they were coming upon their Common Room now. They both slipped out of their Invisibility Cloak, Draco turned to Harry with a soft frown, "I just want you to be safe,"
Harry blushed heavily but didn't let himself break eye contact, he reached out and slipped his hand into Draco's, entwining their fingers tightly, "I dunno, I kinda like it right here lately..." he mumbled.
Draco chuckled and squeezed his hand, smiling softly down at him, "Well, I still think it best you be safer Harry. Now c'mon before a Groundskeeper gives us detention,"
As he led him inside the empty Common Room and up to their slumbering dormitory, he did not detatch his hand from Harry's. Harry sighed happily, although he was forlorn about missing his friends, he felt the days would go by a lot quicker if Draco's hand stayed in his.
XXXX
Harry woke slowly, he was being proded awake by two smiling identical faces. "Urgh," he groaned, turning back over in his bed.
"G'morning to you too, Harry!" Quinton smirked.
"Get'r up, mate, you're gonna miss breakfast!" Migel said, proding him once again,
"Urgh," Harry groaned.
"C'mon Golden Boy, unlike popular belief the world will not wait for you," Draco drawled amusedly.
Harry shot up in his bed with a goofy half-grin directed at Draco who was leaning, eyebrow raised with that infamous smirk of his, against Harry's bed post. He was already dressed in the fur-line uniform, his arms crossed.
"Morning Draco, guys," he greeted and then swung his legs out of bed, "I'll be down in a minute," he said. The twins looked at one another before leaving the room. Harry began to undress, unknowing that Draco had not fully left as he stood in the doorway, looking back at him.
"Mmm...you best not be showing anybody else what's beneath those robes, Harry," Draco whispered seductively, his silver eyes wide on Harry's now bare toned chest.
Harry jumped around to face Draco, flushed he responded, "Or else what?"
"Or else, Potter," Draco hissed, moving back towards the brunette from the doorway, a hunger Harry had never seen in his eyes now, one that sent shivers down his spine, "You won't like the consequences," he closed their distance and threw Harry up against the bed post. He pressed his body hard against the others, exentuating the lack of distance between their pelvic bones and torsos, his hands were hard on Harry's bare hips.
All of the breath in Harry's lung lept out, he closed his eyes and anticipated Draco's lips harshly claiming his own. They breathlessly kissed for a moment before Draco released him and backed up, licking his own set of pink lips. Harry's knees shook, he was thankful the bed post was behind him, holding him sturdy and straight.
"See you at breakfast, Harry," Draco smirked before leaving the dormitory.
Once Harry joined the twins in the Common Room, it was obvious Draco was already down in the Mess Hall. So the three walked down themselves. Being with the twins reminded Harry too much of Hermione and Ron at Hogwarts, and how much he sourly missed them. It gave him a resonating empty feeling in the depths of his chest. His life as a Wizard just wasn't right without them by his side, but having Draco there was more than making up for it these days.
Slightly afraid of growing close to the blonde Slytherin for fear of his close friends disapproval, but Harry couldn't help himself. How hadn't he seen before just how charismatic Draco had been at Hogwarts? How incrediably intellectual, witty, humorous, caring, understanding, provocative, breath-takingly beautiful, courag-
"So what's the deal with you and Malfoy, Potter?" Migel quipped.
Harry looked over at the twins, creasing his eyebrows in fake curiousity, "What do yah mean?"
The twins shared a look and laughed, "C'mon, it's obvious you've both got it in for one another,"
"Don't worry, we've nothing against homosexuals,"
"They're quite common in the Wizarding World y'know,"
"But you might wanna watch out for him..."
"...being Lucius Malfoy's son and all," they countered playfully back and forth much to Harry's embarassment.
"Look guys, I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted more strongly that time.
Quinton raised his eyebrows just as they were entering the Mess Hall, "Really? Strange, must be seeing things then, right brother?"
"Right, we must be delusional," they chortled together.
Harry blushed, "Okay, fine you're right but I-I dunno what's really going on..."
"Don't worry, he's crazy about you. Just give 'em time," Quinton explained.
Migel nodded in agreement, "From what we can tell, Malfoy's quite like his Father, y'know? Kind of cuts himself off emotionally, so it might take him sometime to open up,"
"Er, yeah. Thanks guys. I-I think it'll work out on its own," he muttered and then looked over to where Draco was so delicately eating his morning pancakes and sausages. He always did everything with such perfection, even when it came to eating.
Sitting down across from Draco, Harry tried hard to stay concentrated on his food. He still had other things on his mind distracting him, like the overheard conversation between Greyback and Karkaroff the night before. Not to mention, that empty feeling in his chest which seemed to be getting greater by the moment.
Breakfast was a more silent affair than usual, but Harry could have sworn Draco's foot brushed up purposefully against his own numerous times. He tried to act indifferent, still thinking of missing his friends. When the Aequor students stood to leave the Mess Hall, Draco pulled Harry aside once they reached the outer corridor. Migel and Quinton both winked at Harry as they walked away towards their first period class.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked softly.
"What do you mean?"
Draco rolled his eyes, "Don't play stupid, Harry. It's obvious you've been a little long faced ever since last night. What is it? Was it something I did?" he asked, biting his lower lip in a nervous fashion.
Harry's eyes went wide. 'Draco's actually nervous when it comes to me? He's actually scared he messed something up? Can't he tell that I want whatever it is we have...and so much more...'
"No, it's nothing you did, promise," Harry said shaking his head, "It's just that I miss 'Mione and Ron more than I figured and seeing them really hit the spot," he frowned, looking down at the ground.
Draco sighed, "Don't worry, you'll be back with them soon," he comforted him, "Till then, I'm sorry all you really have is me," he whispered.
Harry looked up and smiled gently, "And I'm so happy I do. I really am. I'm kinda glad I went here, because I wouldn't have been able to see this otherside of you that I-uhm..." he looked away, blushing furiously once more.
"That you what, Harry?" Draco pressed softly.
"Er, that I'm really starting to, uhm..like I guess," he shrugged it off, trying to ignore his own flaming cheeks. "But Durmstrang isn't where I belong,"
"I don't know about that. With the way you are handling the assignments, beating everybody in class especially Charms and Dark Arts," Draco trailed off.
"That's not really what I mean. I do enjoy the lessons more than at Hogwarts, I think they're more practical and useful here. It's just these people. Hogwarts was my first real home and I miss it like you wouldn't believe. I'm starting to lose myself here, forgetting the reasons for what I'm supposed to be accomplishing, especially in reference to the War. I feel as though I'm losing all senses of self, and grip of reality because I'm being sucked into this false life here,"
"What's false about it?"
"It's just not meant for me and it's not who I am. I'm going crazy looking over my shoulder everytime you're not around. I'm always on the defensive amongst these people...so many have a death wish for me and I don't even know them! I feel like I'm fighting a separate battle all on my own here, and without having Ron and Hermione there it's all that much worse," Harry admitted, looking sadly at Draco who was frowning down at him, "If you weren't here, I'd clearly go insane," he added.
"Good thing too, c'mon Harry it will get better. It is only two and a half more months to last anyway. I will never let you be alone, and with me around I promise there's nothing to fear," Draco stepped closer to him, and without even seeming to care about the other Durmstrang students that filled the entrance hall behind them he cupped Harry's face and brought his lips near enough to kiss him, "I would happily die to protect you," he closed his eyes and kissed him hard.
Harry kissed him back as hard as he could before breaking apart, a small smile on his lips. "Come on then, we should be getting to class," he said, slipping his hand down Draco's left arm until it came to his hand which he grasped in his own. As they walked to class they ignored the frenzied looks of those around them, as they kept their fingers tightly entwined.
Draco was right, there was no way for Harry to feel alone even if he was so faraway from home, for he would always have Draco bravely close to his side.
If the world makes you confused
And your senses you seem to lose
If the storm doesn't want to diffuse
And you just don't know what to do
Look around, I am here
Doesn't count far or near
I am by your side
Just for a little while
We'll make it if we try.