Harry sat in the dirt across from where Draco was sleeping on the bed. His arm rested on his knee, head resting on the wall behind him. He was starting to question everything he knew ever since Draco showed up. He thought he knew how things were, how he felt and how things were always going to end for him—and then he went and kissed Draco. That wasn't supposed to happen, and neither was falling for the blond. He wasn't quite at that point yet, but he could be if things kept going the way they were.
Still, it was an opportunity that he wasn't against taking advantage of. If he could somehow get Draco's help with finishing it . . . or perhaps he could just convince Draco to get him inside the gates—
He was snapped out of his thoughts by someone whisper-yelling his name from around the corner. He was going to ignore it, but jumped up when he heard yelling and crying from down the street. He hurried to see what the commotion was, and see who called for him, and stumbled against the wall for a moment when he saw what was happening. The street was lined on both sides with people, kingdom guards roughly pulling people forward to the center of the street, where they deposited them in the dirt. They were searching for someone. He could make a guess as to who it was.
Fuck.
He realized then that Colin was beside him, reaching to grip his arm and pull him down the alley. Double fuck. How did he get here?
"Colin, let go of me!" Harry hissed, ripping his arm away and turning back to get Draco up and running. It would not be good if the guards found him. Thankfully, they were mostly hidden in the darkness of the alley, so they had time. Not a lot, but enough to get away.
Harry knelt beside Draco, shaking him awake, glancing down the alley repeatedly, freaking out more and more when Draco wasn't waking up. It was steadily getting brighter—the guards were going further down the street, closer to the alley, and Draco was taking ages to wake up. The prick was out cold—if they were dragged out in the street too, it was going to be his fault.
"Why are you bothering with him?" Colin asked in disgust. "Just leave him!" Harry ignored him. Draco was important, whether Colin understood it or not. Harry glanced over again to see that there was a guard at the end of the alley, lantern in hand, and he was walking towards them.
"The three of you, get into the street! Leave your belongings," the guard said to them.
"Shit," Harry murmured, sighing in frustration before hauling Draco's limp body onto his shoulder, knees almost buckling under his weight. He took a deep breath, heart thundering, before turning and running the opposite way from the guard. He heard Colin's footsteps behind him, the guard yelling that there was a runner, and he nearly stopped to turn and see why he wasn't being followed by the guards.
When he ran out of the other end of the alley, he realized why. He ran straight into a tall red-headed man, who gripped his arms tightly and stared grimly down at them. He heard Colin scurry up the wall, abandoning them. Typical.
"S'pose you're it," the man said gruffly, looking like he didn't want to be in this position either. It dawned on him that they weren't looking for Draco. They were looking for him. Harry met the man's eye and replied:
"S'pose I am." The man's eyebrow cocked up slightly, and his lip twitched, almost like Harry had told a joke that he liked. He let out a breath, almost like feeling the air leaving his lungs was like the hope leaving too. Still, Harry stared, trying to think of a way out of this, but there wasn't much he could do with an unconscious Draco slung over his shoulders.
"Harry . . . ?" Draco slurred tiredly, deciding in that moment that it was a great time to wake up. Speak of the devil. Harry felt like laughing. What a horrible situation. He didn't expect that it would get any better from there.
"Put the prince down," the man commanded. Harry clenched his jaw and did as he was told, trying to put Draco down as gently as possible. The blond drowsily stared up at the man and Harry, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.
"Uncle?" he asked, and Harry turned to stare, incredulous. . . Maybe this could help the situation.
"You don't happen to be a vendor, do you?" Draco's uncle asked Harry, looking amused again.
". . . No," he replied, confused.
"Clearly doesn't have blue eyes, not a vendor, not stocky," the redhead murmured to himself, almost grinning at that point. "You're good to go. You check out," he said. Harry stared at him, eyebrows raised, glancing between him and Draco. That was not a sentence he would ever think he'd hear, and especially not in a situation like this.
He was about to ask for clarification, before the redhead turned around and continued to question and inspect the other citizens lined up on the street. Harry turned to look down at Draco, eyes wide with shock.
"So, your uncle, huh?" he asked, shaking off his surprised and relief and the million other emotions flooding through him. Draco grinned up at him, shrugging, and Harry gave him his hand to help him up.
"Thanks." Draco brushed off his hands, patted his pants to get the dirt off, and then met Harry's eye. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Yes. You can," Harry replied, smiling softly and pushing Draco back towards the bed.
What in the world just happened?
A/N: Was gonna have Ron bring them in, but decided it would speed up the plot way too much, and I wanted just a few more chapters of Drarry before that shiz happens. Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. Hopefully I can finish this one up soon for you guys.
