Chapter 22

Ice Dragon

Draco was unusually subdued in potions class the next morning. He had not been his normal witty self since last night. 'Ice Dragon,' he thought to himself. With more concentration that it usually took him, Draco entered the place in his mind where nobody else could go.

This was not something he dared to do often in public, as the side effect was more often then not him dropping out cold. He felt the tiny pin points work their way up his body, leave him frozen where they passed. Nothing hurt here, he was numb, physically at least. However, it did very little to numb the pain that he felt now.

He was very aware that he was going to receive bad news today. He had a feeling, and those feelings had yet to prove wrong.

"Mr. Malfoy," came Snape's voice. It sounded far away and faded. Draco opened his eyes, and came down out of the world that he had created for himself. The only result of his visit being the coldness he felt against everything.

"Yes Professor?" 'Come on, ask me what's wrong. I may tell you, wouldn't that be a laugh.'

Snape said nothing, but rounded on Potter. 'Insufferable old man. He ought to-'

Draco's thought was interrupted by the arrival of a huge eagle owl that made him jump out of his seat.

Harry watched as the owl entered the room and Malfoy jumped out of his chair. Harry looked to glare at him, did he really need to be getting things from home during class? That was, until Harry saw the look in Malfoy's eyes. Fear, intense fear so great it made him want to scream. It was gone in a split second, Harry almost wondered if it was ever there before it disappeared behind the cold mask.

'Mask,' he thought, letting himself chew on that for a moment. 'That's all it is isn't it? A mask?'

Draco didn't notice that he had left his seat. Thoughts rushed through his head. 'Bad news. From home. Home. No, not home. Ice. From father, bad news. Dragon, ice. Bad news. Home. Father. ICE DRAGON!' He pulled it under, letting it freeze. 'Stay with the ice,' he told himself firmly.

Slowly, Draco removed the letter and scanned it. 'No, no, please. Ice, don't leave. Ice Dragon, untouchable and cold.'

"It seems my mother his very ill," Draco drawled as best as he could. "My father wishes that I return home to see her. He requests that I leave as soon as I receive this."

Snape narrowed his eyes, but nodded. Draco collected his books and walked out.

Harry gave Malfoy very little thought from then on out. He had much more important things to worry about then the mask that Malfoy hid behind. The first Quidditch game of the year was coming up, and Harry had a lot more weighing on it then just the house cup.

He called the team to a meeting that night, and stood in front of them. "I don't really think I should be captain of this team." He went on before they could protest. "I am however, going to give it my best shot. I don't want to drive you into the mud, but I do really want to win this game. After that, we should all be fine, but this game, we need to win this game. So I'm going to drive you as hard as I can, and instead of me judging when it's time to stop, you tell me when it's too much. Are evening practices on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays too much?"

They all shook their heads no, and Harry fingered the ring around his neck, something he tended to do when he was under pressure. "Okay, then let's get out there. No more preaching from me, I don't do pep talks."

Before Harry knew it, it was Sunday again and only then did he remember that Malfoy still hadn't come back. He sat down in the common room, completely exhausted, as he had just finished practicing with his sword. Ginny looked preoccupied and worried about something, and was whispering very quietly to Sally.

"What's up with Rose?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

"Believe it or not, I think she's worried about Malfoy. He has seemed to be gone a long time just for a visit."

Harry shrugged, it didn't bother him. Malfoy wasn't there to make his life even more stressful, and he could hardly wish him back.

Draco very carefully laid himself down on his bed. He entered Ice Dragon without even thinking about it. The pain made the passage easy. It only ebbed the pain, until Draco concentrated and numbed it out completely 'I go back tomorrow. I told the elves, they will see to it. Mother and Father won't know until I am gone.' Natural sleep was a rare occurrence for Draco, but the world he so affectionately called Ice Dragon could numb his mind to sleep if he willed it to.

Suddenly, as his mind was almost slowed enough to put him to sleep, he came to a realization. Why only go the Ice Dragon when he wanted the pain to go away? Why not stay there and have the pain never arrive?

Harry walked into Potions, very tired. He had been up with Ginny, who told him of another night mare, this one with a message also. This had been the fourth one since the first, and the more words she collected, the less sense it made.

He collapsed into his chair, Ron and Hermione sitting beside him. Snape walked in, and glanced at Malfoy's empty seat. He even forgot to make Harry miserable, telling them to open their books and try a potion.

It was halfway though class that the door cracked open and Malfoy walked it. Harry looked up at him, but Malfoy made eye contact with nobody. Harry's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing that his arm was in a sling.

"Welcome back, Mr. Malfoy, my I ask how you acquired that sling?" Snape asked.

"I told the house elf to bring it to me." Draco drawled, sitting very slowly in a chair.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "And why did you do that?"

"Why did I do that, man are you daft? I was under the expression that one usually puts a broken limb in some sort of restraint."

Snape's lips thinned, and in the very back of his mind somewhere Draco wondered if he had gone too far. It didn't matter, nothing did.

"Do you wish to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"There's no need, there is no pain. But I believe I won't participate in the Quidditch match. The reserve will have to do."

Snape turned and snapped at them to continue their potions.

Harry watched Malfoy very carefully from the other side of the room. 'Is he faking it to get out of the match?'

He didn't think so. Draco moved very slowly as he prepared his ingredients. He never showed any sign of pain, but then Malfoy never showed much of any kind of emotion. The way he moved was what made Harry believe it. It would be damn inconvenient to move like that unless it was necessary. If he had only wanted out of the match, it would be easier to 'break' just his hand.

She was heading for lunch that afternoon when Ginny spotted Draco. She smiled, she had began to worry. Then she saw the sling and frowned. He was alone, standing against the wall, and she walked up to him. His eyes were closed, and he made no sign that he had heard her approach.

"Draco?"

His eyes flew open and he suddenly grabbed his shoulder and fell to his knees, groaning at the pain. He panted, unable to make it go away. Ginny dropped down to him.

"Draco? Are you okay?" She reached out and touched him, causing Draco to inhale sharply. She pulled back. "Do you want me to go get Madam Pomfrey?"

No," he croaked, "No, I'm fine." He pulled himself to his feet, his face still contorted with pain.

"What happened?"

"I- I fell off of my broom at home."

Ginny nodded, studying him for a moment. Suddenly, Harry's voice was heard in the distance. "Rose!" Ginny took a fleeting glance at Draco before running off.

"Draco," a voice penetrated the ice. It was clear, crisp, as though it cut right through, not faded like all the other noise. This caused him to open his eyes in shock. Upon seeing the owner of that voice, the ice world shattered. With that shattering, came a wave of pain from his arm. He fell to his knees, trying desperately to rebuild the ice. Just as he almost started to make some progress, she touched him, and it shattered again.

He wasn't very aware of what he was saying, he was praying for her to leave. The moment she was out of sight, the ice slammed back cold enough to crystallize air. The pain stopped immediately. He leaned back into the wall, pulling the walls of Ice Dragon a little closer.

When his mind was functioning again, he thought to himself. 'Why on earth could she do that?'

The Gryffindor team was facing a small problem. Ginny had been flying a school broom during practice, but she really needed a new broom. This problem weighed on the minds of every person present in the locker room. Harry was the only one yet to not show, it was their last practice before the big game.

The door opened, and Harry walked in. Over his shoulder he carried two broomsticks, a red one and a yellow, the red being his Firebolt. He took the yellow one and tossed it to Ginny, who caught it. She them looked at it, yelped and dropped it.

They team looked over and one word shown up at them. Lightningbolt.

"Harry," George said dryly. "Where did you get it?"

"I ordered it. I was hoping it would get here in time. Now we're even, Rose."

Ginny shook her head. "Harry, I can't take that! It must have cost a fortune."

Harry shrugged. "It's here, it's not going back, so you might as well take it."

"But the cost-"

Harry cut her off with a shake of his head. "I have more money then I ever plan to use, and by the end of next year I may end up making more. I don't need it." He grinned. "Let me spoil you a little okay?"

Ginny looked from the broom which still lay on the floor to Harry, then back again. She nodded, bending over to pick up the broom. Inspired by two of the best brooms on the planet on their field, the practice went amazingly well. Harry almost wasn't nervous, well almost.

He laid on his bed and stared at the curtains. He knew he had to sleep, but he couldn't. Sally lay beside him, not speaking. Suddenly, there was as knock on the door.

"It'sss Rossse, I called her."

Harry jumped up and opened it, and Ginny looked at him with a worried expression crossing her face. "Sal thought you might have some problems sleeping, so she had me brew this," she said pushing a bottle in his hand. "She said I would know if you needed, she would call me." Ginny shuddered. "That is a horrid feeling. Take it, it's a Deep Sleep Potion. Sleep well."

She turned and walked back towards her dorm, and Harry watched after her. "Thanks Rose," he whispered. "I owe you again."

Sally smiled to herself before curling up to sleep herself.

A man in a dark cloak looked around him, a clearing deep in the forest. The creatures that had once lived there had been disposed of. He smirked at his followers, cowering before him. None wanted the wrath of their lord at that moment.

"Wormtail!"

The little man took a step foreword, shaking from head to toe. He continued to rant at the pitiful excuse for a man for some time, telling him all his faults. This was quite an amusing game.

"There better be a new source her by tomorrow, Wormtail, or it will be you."

The man whimpered and scurried off, and Voldemort took his seat in the center of the circle. "The time is near, I must hurry, but I must not rush"

Ginny changed quickly into her game robes. Her heart beat hard in her chest, and she wondered if it would bust out. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she didn't need the pleasant warm glow of her necklace to know it was Harry. She turned to look at him. He had his hand clasped around the ring on his neck, a habit she supposed he would soon fall into.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"Yes, but you have more right. We should stop worrying, Draco's not even out there."

"Please call him Malfoy."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Okay, Malfoy isn't playing, and that second year isn't even a threat to you. We will when this for sure."

"I hope so, come here and look."

Ginny followed him to peak outside at the crowd. Any attending staff members were visible, and there were quite a few adults that Ginny didn't recognize. They all sat with Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore told me to meet in his office after the game. He said I could get the news then." Ginny felt herself shiver from nerves, and could hardly imagine how he felt.

In what seemed like no time at all, Lee's voice was heard over the loud speaker. "Welcome to the first house match of the year!" The cheers could be heard even in the locker room. "Today, it's Slytherin verses the returning champions, Gryffindor! Both under new captains! This could turn out to be the most interesting match we've had for years.

"Here comes the Slytherin team. Warington. Montague, Pucey, Derrick, Bole, and Stafford. Captain Malfoy sitting out do to injury." There was a cheer from the Slytherins.

"And here's the Gryffindor team! Weasley, Weasley, Weasley, Bell, Spinnet, Johnson, and Captain Potter."

The cheer that followed made Ginny feel more confident. Madam Hooch was standing in the middle. "Potter, shake hands with, well, with Stafford I guess."

Harry walked foreword to shake hands with the shaking girl. He gave her a sympathetic smile, she really looked scared. "Mount your brooms." Harry wondered mildly why he wasn't shaking himself. The nervousness had died now that he was out there. The whistle blew and Harry felt his heart rise as it always did when he flew.

Up above everybody else, he started scanning for the snitch, listening carefully to Lee.

"And Slytherin starts off in possession. Pucey is really heading up the field. Blocked by Bell, Gryffindor in possession. Passes it to Spinnet. Johnson, Spinnet, Bell Johnson. Slow down girls I can't watch! Gryffindor scores!"

Harry smiled to himself but continued to search desperately for the snitch. The little girl did the same, turning in circles to see everything at once.

The representatives smiled as the teams took off, many remembering their days at Hogwarts. "Gryffindor verses Slytherin, always the best game of the year." Oliver Tynce remarked. "Potter is a Gryffindor, a suppose that shouldn't surprise me."

Dumbledore gave a very small proud smile. "It should turn out to be a good match. I feel that Gryffindor has the better team, but the Slytherin well, they tend to-"

"We tended to cheat, that's what we did," Tynce said with a chuckle.

Dumbledore gave a smile, silently praying that Harry got on to the team he wanted. The boy deserved to be happy once in a while.

"Slytherin in possession. Montague has a clear shot. SAVED! Glorious save by Weasley, young Ginny, riding her new Lightningbolt."

Ginny turned right side up again, having had to flip over on her broom to stop the goal. She tossed the ball to Katie, who took off with it. She took a deep breath now that the ball was at the other side of the field. She took the opportunity to look up at Harry. He was gazing around, but caught her eye for one moment and grinned his approval. With this to cheer him on, Ginny went back to the game with new enthusiasm.

One bloody nose, six fouls, and five spectacular Gryffindor saves later, Harry spotted the snitch. It was above the stands, and he took off with speed. The Slytherin girl followed behind him, but he didn't pay any attention to her.

Just as he clasped his hand around the tiny gold ball, he heard the screams. Right bellow him, the stands had collapsed.

It had been a thankfully rather empty stand, and almost everybody had gotten out of the way. Almost. Harry saw as Malfoy fell, and shot down with more speed then he ever thought he had.

Draco watched as Potter sped for the snitch. 'One more tally to his list. The great Harry Potter. Let him miss it, just this once.'

However, Potter didn't miss it, and Draco felt his world give out from under him. Literally. He didn't realize at first that he was falling, the ice world slowed his reactions.

Somehow he managed to grab hold of something with his good arm. Dangling thirty feet above the ground, he wondered why he had tried.

He let go, but he didn't fall. He jerked his head up to see Potter, his holding Draco's arm with every amount of strength he had. Dragon Ice shattered, but Draco didn't notice the pain from his shoulder, not at the moment.

His mind was working surprisingly well. He noticed that the rest of the stand was about to fall over on them. He noticed that everybody in his view sat shock still. He noticed that Potter couldn't move without falling or letting him go.

"Let me go."

"No way."

"Just let me go, I don't need this."

"You'll die, Malfoy!"

"I know. Please. Harry," he voice was pleading and meek.

Harry's eyes went open in surprise as he realized what that meant. Then he saw Ginny coming faster then he had.

Ginny also noticed that the stand was falling and was about to collapse on them all. She flew under Draco, pulling him onto the broom in front of him and putting an arm firmly around his waist. "Harry look out!"

A wooden beam was flying right for them. Ginny knew there was no way she could get out of the way fast enough, not with Draco on the broom too. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, but it didn't come. She looked up to see Harry, right in front of her, his sword held in front of him. The beam hit the ground in two pieces.

They flew to the side, just as the stand's last support broke. She heard it collapse behind her.

Harry slid his sword into the sheath that materialized out of nowhere on his back. Draco fainted and Ginny reached out to hold him up. Harry reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. He materialized a stretcher, a feat that Ginny didn't have the time to marvel at. He helped her lay Draco onto it.

The crowd sat in shocked silence. Harry turned to face Dumbledore and muttered another spell. Smoky words filled the sky.

He's out cold. We'll take him to the Mme. Pomfrey. Help the rest.

With that he took off, Ginny in close pursuit, the stretcher following after him.