Chapter Fourteen: Rough Rendezvous

Shrill screams echoed in his ears. Another Death Eater went down at his hex. Tears stung his eyes but did not fall. Pain screamed through his nerves. He wanted to stop running but knowing that his 'feel' of Severus was not going to last forever he continued making his way to the running wizard. He had no idea how that was possible, but it must have been due to the irrevocable oath that he had taken. He was supposed to be protecting Severus. It would only make sense if he should know about the wizard's whereabouts, by whatever means.

He felt the Dementor before he saw it. He caught sight of the fleeing Potions master. Where in the hell did he get those robes? Harry thought inconsequentially. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and summoned a happy memory. His Patronus appeared and he directed it to chase the Dementor away from his lover.

Severus continued to run. Harry wheezed in pain, but still determined to catch up with him. Taking a chance, he whipped his wand and magical vines shot out from the tip. They curled around the wizard's ankles and tripped him, but Severus fell in a controlled motion. Harry's eyes widened when he saw the white bolt, and countered it with the same spell. The magic bolt was deflected harmlessly to the side.

"For a man your age, you run like hell," he panted. With a shaking hand, he drew out Severus' birch wand from his pocket. "Here."

Not caring about the pain he was in, he sank down to the ground and helped Severus untangle the vines around his ankles. He watched as the wizard rose to his feet, but he made no move to do the same.

The blood ... they'll track me down, Harry thought with a wince. The pain tripled suddenly – he couldn't even hear himself think. He was vaguely aware that Severus was tugging at his elbow, commanding him to get up, and him replying that he could not. Then Severus was doing something to his leg, which made the agony more pronounced than ever.

He did not know what exactly alerted him, but something dangerous was coming for them. Quick as lightning, he grabbed for Severus' neck and pulled the man close to him.

"Irruzash!" He saw the creature thrash madly at the trees. One tree suddenly splintered, killing it instantly.

Severus bandaged him quickly after sterilizing his wound with a spell. "Go!"

Getting to his feet was hard. His head spun dizzily. Then he gasped in surprise when he felt a spell slid over him, and suddenly, he found himself in Severus' arms. He stared at Severus until he heard the wizard bark an order at him.

"Pay attention and watch our backs!"

That's right ... we're still surrounded. He straightened, and scanned the surroundings.

He heard a shout and grew alarmed. He realized that they had nowhere to run, arriving suddenly at the edge of a cliff. He looked up, and suddenly saw the familiar flash of scales. Zerina! It was Charlie's dragon.

Severus held him tightly as Zerina flapped her wings hard and lowered herself. Harry felt the urgency as Severus walked quickly toward the dragon. Screams from behind them made him look. The pack had found their fallen comrade and no doubt, they were angry about it. He let out a yelp when Severus roughly handed him over to a pair of familiar hands – hands that had supported him many times in the past.

"You okay mate?" Ron's blue-grey eyes were worried.

Harry held out his hand, and looked yearningly at Severus. Please ... take my hand. It seemed like he had waited for an eternity when Severus finally made his decision. The happiness that burst out from his heart shadowed the pain that his leg was causing him.

"Severus … I love you!" He squeezed the hands that were wrapped around his waist. "Thank you!" He babbled out more things, but for some reason, he could not remember what it was that he had said, and ended up repeating himself. "Ah!" he yelped when Severus jerked hard at his hair. He found himself staring at Severus' eyes. What...? The kiss on his lips calmed him. But the moment they left him, he felt himself start again.

Perhaps his chattering had unnerved Charlie. Zerina flipped in the air – Harry heard Hermione scream in terror. The maneuver effectively shut him up, and he felt somewhat amused when binds wrapped around him protectively.

"You idiot," Severus muttered in his ear. "Stop talking and save your strength."

"Okay," Harry answered docilely. He calmed down, but felt his eyelids grow heavy.

Severus whispered urgently in his ear. "Don't fall asleep. Just stay ... with me."

"Okay."

Harry tried as hard as he could to remain awake, knowing that it was for his own safety. He had just lost a significant amount of blood, and now he was up in the air. It was fortunate that Zerina was keeping to a low altitude.

They had been flying for a long time and the air was lighter and warmer. He wondered if everyone had managed to escape safely. As he worried about how the other members of the Order were faring, he failed to notice the gentle caress on his face. His only warning was a flash of black lightning.

His yelp was lost in Hermione's shriek and Ron's shout. Something had pushed Zerina's hind downward, and the female dragon had let out a loud bellow. She sounded annoyed and climbed higher into the air. Then she swung her head to the side, and Harry found himself staring into her deep crimson eyes. Her nostrils flared and dark smoke billowed out, and she bellowed angrily again.

A responding roar tore the air above them, and suddenly they were not flying alone. Someone laughed.

"Damn you, Derrick! Tell your dragon not to irritate Zerina! We all know she has a lovely tail, and she's damned touchy about it!"

"How is this...?" Severus did not finish his question.

"I'd forgotten to tell you about this," Harry said apologetically as more and more dragons became visible. "But you remember that we'd brought back a spherical object some weeks ago, right?" Severus frowned and nodded. "Charlie had touched it by accident, and it'd crumbled. There were dozens of pendants hidden within it."

"Pendants?"

"Pendants ... with stones. Hermione calls them the dragonstones. It improves the connection between a dragon keeper and his charge, and improves communication between dragons." Harry waved his hand vaguely at the other dragons flying around them. "That is the reason why they haven't killed each other yet, but are actually working together as a pack."

"Hmmmm."

"Hey, isn't that Krum?" Ron exclaimed suddenly.

Sitting astride on a lithe, red-scaled dragon, Viktor Krum waved at them. He whispered something to the rider in front of him, who nodded, and the dragon slowed its pace to match Zerina's.

"Viktor, what are you doing here?"

Hermione, Harry noticed, still showed signs of being smitten with Viktor, despite her affections toward Ron.

"Scouting," the young man rumbled. "Good to see that you are okay."

"Thanks." Hermione glowed. Ron on the other hand, sulked.

Harry leaned against Severus' chest. He was feeling very sleepy. He sighed. He could not fall asleep here. Absently, he raised one of Severus' hand and started licking the digits.

"What are you doing?" Severus hissed. "They're unclean!"

"I'm getting sleepy, Severus." He nipped the skin gently and smiled upon feeling Severus stiffen from behind him. "I need to do something."

"Then for Slytherin's sake ... do something else!"

"Hmmmm ... okay." Harry concentrated, and charmed Severus' hand clean. The wizard swore into his hair as Harry's tongue poked in between the digits.

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