Chapter 9: Dragon vs. Dragon?

The boys trekked cautiously through the thick of the forest, the cloak safely left behind and hidden in case they needed to make a quick candid retreat to the school. Harry led the way with his wand illuminated. Draco pointed him in the direction to go with his own enchanted wand to guide them. No sooner had they ventured into the forest than they found themselves surrounded on all sides by incredibly dark and creepy wood. There was no going back now as they weren't sure if they could find their way even if they wanted to at this point. Nothing to do but go forward and investigate the strange energy beckoning them to follow.

"This has Voldemort written all over it Potter." Draco sneered under his breath.

"You would know wouldn't you." Harry replied.

"Actually yes I would, since I really have no choice in the matter BUT to know." Draco snarled back.

Harry remembered his conversation with Eriol at that moment. Eriol's words of getting to know Draco rang through his head. He thought for a moment that if the soulless Malfoy could actually get along with Eriol, why couldn't he?

"Say, Malfoy..can I ask you something?" he began.

Draco almost flinched, "What is it?"

"Why do you get along with Eriol?"

Draco smirked, was Harry jealous of his friendship with his twin? "What's it to you?"

"I'm just wondering how someone as nice as him can tolerate you."

"Is it really that hard to see? What with your 4 eyes and all I would expect a little more cleverness on your part Potter." Draco gloated allowing himself a nasty, victorious smirk.

"Brilliant, how about you skip to the part where you actually make sensible human speech and grace me with a straight answer Malfoy."

Draco nearly choked on the word 'straight' but he pushed the pun away from his thoughts.

"If you really want to know, it's because he doesn't HAVE to tolerate me. I can be myself around him and he doesn't mind. He is the first who hasn't judged me based on first impressions."

"Really? First impressions? Funny, that impression only seems to get worse with time."

"Shut it Potter! If you are going to walk so dangerously close in front of me, I suggest you drop the smart-ass comments before my wand finds a new home shoved up where the sun don't shine."

"That so? and which wand are you referring to exactly?"

"Geh!" Draco managed to squeak as his face flushed with warmth, "Potter, I swear!"

Harry stopped abruptly in front of him causing the other shaken boy to crash behind him.

"What the he-" but Draco stopped himself short as he straightened out and finally found what had made Harry stop so suddenly.

The other boy had raised his wand higher to the sky to illuminate more of the area around them, only to come face to face with the glowing eyes of a dragon a short distance away.

Draco shook frantically clinging to the robes of Harry in front of him, "Oh m-my my my.." he stuttered.

The Dragon, readily noticing the two boys, reared it's head and glowered at them both menacingly.

"Bloody hell!" Harry uttered before whirling around Draco and pushing the other out in front of him.

Draco shrieked, "Potter! What in Merlin's bloody dungeon are you doing!?!?!"

Harry shivered behind him grasping the boy's shoulders tightly, "Well I don't know..doesn't your name mean 'Dragon' or something? Talk to it or whatever."

"You daft prick! If anything that would be more of an invite to make a meal out of me!"

"Better you than me."

"How very brave and generous of you Mr. Potter!"

Draco was too astonished and dumbfounded to notice the dragon slinking closer to the two boys, an ominous look to it's eyes as the light from Harry's dangerously close wand reflected off of them.

Then without warning the great beast bent it's head and plucked Draco off the ground by the hem of his robes. Draco's piercing scream rang throughout the forest and in an instant the dragon had leapt in the air spreading it's massive wings as if to fly off with it's dinner.

All the while Harry stood in sheer horror at the sight of Draco being so effortlessly taken by the Dragon and Harry only had nano seconds to think of what to do. The thoughts "I don't have my broom to chase after him" and "If the dragon takes him now..there's no getting him back" and "Oh my god he's going to eat him!" raced through his head and before he knew what he was doing the boy had latched himself onto the faint trace of the dragon's tail hurdling him into the sky as well.

He hung on for dear life as the forest shrank below him from the altitude. All the while Draco hung loosely by his robes in the mouth of the dragon writhing around in true snake-like fashion. Harry could tell from his vantage point that Draco was hardly shrieking as much now as he was before and if anything he sounded more angry and annoyed than anything else.

"Unhand me bloody reptile! Have you any idea who I am!?" he yelled taking swings at the air.

Meanwhile Harry's presence hadn't gone unnoticed, bearing a slight weight and added discomfort to the Dragon's style of flight, the beast had begun trying to shake him off like a pest in midair. Draco's eyes widened in horror at the extreme abuse Harry was taking and at first he was even more surprised by the fact Harry had even followed to rescue him.

"Harry! Hang on! Don't fall! Listen, when the Dragon swings upward take that force to impulse yourself onto it's back! Can you hear me!?" he shouted frantically.

Harry blinked mentally through his grit teeth as he mustered all the strength he could to hang on to the Dragon's violently thrashing tail.

Had Draco just called him Harry?

Almost unbelieving of what he had just heard Harry snapped out of his momentary trance to concentrate on the more dire task in front of him. He grunted helplessly as he reminded himself of what would happen if he fell.

"Yes, Draco I hear you!" and with that Harry took the next opportunity to lunge himself blindly into the air at the dragon's slightest upward flick of the tail.

Thankfully he landed on the upper base of the tail and as soon as he made contact with the scaly flesh beneath him he scrambled up over the ridge of it's back and hung on to it's neck tightly in case the beast decided to roll into loops. Luckily it didn't since carrying it's noisy, platinum-blonde, cargo prevented it from doing so.

Harry took the moment to assess Draco's well-being from his new position and hung slightly over the edge of the Dragon's neck to get a view of the still struggling boy beneath him.

"You made it Harry?" Draco strained still flailing in his robes.

"Yeah..listen Draco, the Dragon doesn't have a hold of your body right? Just your robes true?" Harry asked, urgency lining his tone.

"Yes..if he had my arm or something I would be bloody screaming and cursing!"

"You seem to do enough of that already..but that's beside the point. Ok, hang on I'm going to try something."

"Don't have much of a choice do I? Be careful Harry remember we don't have our brooms!" Draco reminded him fearfully.

The Boy Who Lived pushed himself back slightly on the Dragon's neck sitting up straight, and gripped his wand tightly concentrating with his eyes closed. What was that spell Eriol had taught him, not too long ago, after dinner once? It was the one in case of emergencies, like if he fell of his broom during Quidditch..

"By the power of darkness, moon and night
With the powers of day, the sun and light
Bestow on me your eternal might
And grant me the power over flight.."

Below him Clow's magic circle mysteriously appeared and Draco snapped his neck up to take a better look at the radiating light coming from the Dragon's back. Harry stood suddenly in the middle of this circle, confidently, as if the force of the wind or the movement of the dragon couldn't touch him. Draco was petrified with awe.

Opening his eyes Harry pointed his wand at the Dragon's head.

"Obedius Totalus!"

With that the dragon seemed to go almost limp and it faltered slightly dipping from the sky.

Draco shrieked. "Watch what you're doing man!"

Harry brought his fingers to his temples clenching his teeth and straining to concentrate over the massive dragon's will. He had control over the beast temporarily but it was hard to keep every stroke of it's wings even with the dragon's conscious fighting for control of it's own body.

The dragon descended from the sky at intervals much to Draco's relief.

Harry groaned almost in pain at the amount of focus he was exerting. "D-Draco..I can't hang on much longer..the dragon wont let me land it. W-we have to jump from here, it's as low as it goes."

Draco dared to look below him, "Have you gone mad!?! We'll break every bone in our body! I am NOT jumping!"

"At least it wont be your backbone..you HAVE none! Look..this might be the last chance we have! Just shrug out from your robes. I'll follow you."

"What part of NO don't you understand?"

"Don't argue with me! If I lose this..the dragon will take back to the sky and we'll be done for! It's not that far..rather fast.. but not too high. We can make it." Harry both warned and assured, the light from the circle beneath him flickering weakly.

Draco took another long view of the world beneath him. "We'll die.." he whispered.

"Trust me.." Harry said, a hand appearing in the direction of the Slytherin boy.

"What?" Draco scoffed both in shock and fear.

"I am asking you, Draco Malfoy, to trust me. We will do this together. If you fall..I will fall with you. I didn't come up here for the pretty view you know. I came to help you, so just..shut up and trust me." smiled the raven-haired boy.

Draco melted, whether it was at the sight of Harry's smile or the sincere-ness of his words, Draco felt he had finally gained the one thing he had always wanted from Harry.

The vow of trust.

He nodded and began to wriggle free of his robes. First one arm and slowly the other, but not before taking another sad, longing, gaze at Harry whom he thought he might never see again after this. And yet somewhere inside him he comforted himself, if he did have to die, he would rather it be in Harry's warmth than in Voldemort's icy stare.

Meanwhile Harry smiled and began sliding off the dragon's back. At the same time they both let go.

They caught each other somewhere in the fall, hanging on tightly as they tumbled to the earth. Their eyes locked as the bitter wind lashed against them from the speed, and they didn't have to say anything to know that their last moment was spent together. The ground sped toward them and Draco closed his eyes engrossed in the slow motion of it all.

"I've always loved you Harry.."