Chapter Six
(Beta: Liz)
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Harry was tired. No, he was beyond tired. He was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
It had been a long day for him to begin with. Up at the crack of dawn for a particularly grueling Quidditch practice, a full day of classes, apprehension over his detention, all the physical effort he put out for the actual detention and now this. This desperate fleeing for his (and Malfoy's) life; it was all catching up with him.
His legs felt shaky and the added weight of Malfoy was making his back ache. But he still pushed on. His instinct for survival and lingering guilt over the whole fiasco kept driving him forward.
He wished he dared to look over his shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of whatever was chasing them. He didn't even know how close behind them it was. Only Malfoy's fingers digging urgently into his shoulders told him that the danger was still near.
Harry didn't even want to consider what could be chasing them. Based on Malfoy's reaction, it had to be big.
What he needed was some sort of plan. He couldn't keep this pace up for much longer. His legs threatened to give out on him and he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs.
He could see no place to hide and with Malfoy in his current condition there was no way they could climb a tree. Which might not do any good anyway as he didn't know the size of the creature chasing them.
Harry's every instinct told him to turn towards the danger and fight. But without his wand or hearing and with a helpless Malfoy to protect he knew that wasn't an option. He was responsible for another's life. He didn't take that responsibility lightly.
The terrifying events of the evening seemed to have washed away some of the distaste Harry felt for his rival. What had started off as his conscience and sense of guilt that kept him from leaving the other boy behind had turned into a very strange feeling of togetherness. They were in this together now, whether they liked it or not.
His legs were starting to cramp painfully. He stumbled and struggled to remain upright after tripping over his own feet. His deafness was disorienting him, badly affecting his balance. His lungs were starting to burn, heart pounding almost painfully.
Harry knew he was reaching the end of his strength. He couldn't run for much longer.
As he started to go over potential courses of action to get them out of this mess, it was taken out of his hands.
They had entered a small, circular clearing. Harry came to a dead stop, paralyzed when he saw that they were now surrounded.
He could make out huge shadowy shapes all around them, slowly closing in.
It had been a trap. Apparently they had been herded to this very spot.
Harry's mind seemed to have frozen in shock. He couldn't believe that he, Harry Potter, who had survived several attempts on his life by the most powerful evil wizard of the time, was about to meet his end at the hand (if these creatures even had hands) of some unknown monster. Partly responsible for the death of another student.
It was that last thought that sprung Harry into action. The memory of Cedric was still a painful part of him. He would not stand by and let another classmate meet his demise while he, Harry, could still fight.
A new determination filled him.
Even exhausted, deaf and without a wand he would defend himself and Draco no matter what.
Almost immediately Harry's resolve faltered when the first creature stepped out of the shadows.
The monsters were huge. Taller than Hagrid and nearly twice as wide, each a wall of solid muscle walking upright on two tree truck-like legs. They reminded Harry of the troll he and his friends faced in their first year. He reckoned the monstrosity before him now must be some how related, a different species of troll.
But these trolls seemed to be far more intelligent.
And more brutal.
Harry could see long, claw-like nails protruding from their huge hands.
He looked up, horrorstruck; at the one he assumed was the leader. It leered down at him, baring its long, uneven teeth.
Harry could only stand there, feet rooted to the spot, mind blank with panic. He didn't need his hearing to know that the monsters were moving in for the kill.
Feeling Draco's vise-like grip on his shoulders and panting breaths on the back of his neck drew Harry back to reality.
He needed to do something.
His hand itched to feel the familiar weight of his wand. He wondered how he ever survived without it.
The current helplessness he felt reminded him of when he was young and used that untrained, unfocused magic unconsciously, usually to escape from Dudley and his gang.
He was suddenly struck by a thought.
What if he could still do that? Do magic even without the aid of his wand or uttering spells?
When he had been young it had been unintentional. He hadn't known what he was doing, it just happened when he needed it to happen. Usually when he was desperate, with nowhere to run.
Well, he certainly was desperate now.
But Harry wasn't a little boy anymore. He was sixteen years old and almost a fully trained wizard.
And he had nothing to lose.
With a few muttered reassuring words Harry, as gently as possible, lowered Draco to the ground. Glancing into the other boy's face briefly.
Draco's strangely clouded eyes were wide with fear and it filled Harry with some newfound determination.
He would not waver this time. He would not fail to protect another classmate again, whether he liked him or not.
Harry stood upright and proud, all his earlier aches and pains forgotten. He pushed away the doubt that he wouldn't be able to do what he was planning to do. It had been many, many years since he had used that wild, uncontrolled magic.
It was no time to harbour doubts.
The troll leader was advancing on him now, huge clawed hand raised.
Harry steeled himself and closed his eyes. Desperately searching for that raw, frantic magic of his childhood. Praying that it would be enough to save he and Draco both.
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A/N: Not much to say this time except.. thanks again to my reviewers! It's appreciated more than you know!
There was actually supposed to be more to this chapter, from Draco's pov, but I decided to save it for the next one. Again I wrote most of this at work (helps keep me sane at an extremely boring job) so sorry if some parts don't made sense. Trying to write and appear to be working at the same time can be difficult.. :o) Again, this may be changed around and edited later on.. depends if I change my mind or not..
(Beta: Liz)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry was tired. No, he was beyond tired. He was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
It had been a long day for him to begin with. Up at the crack of dawn for a particularly grueling Quidditch practice, a full day of classes, apprehension over his detention, all the physical effort he put out for the actual detention and now this. This desperate fleeing for his (and Malfoy's) life; it was all catching up with him.
His legs felt shaky and the added weight of Malfoy was making his back ache. But he still pushed on. His instinct for survival and lingering guilt over the whole fiasco kept driving him forward.
He wished he dared to look over his shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of whatever was chasing them. He didn't even know how close behind them it was. Only Malfoy's fingers digging urgently into his shoulders told him that the danger was still near.
Harry didn't even want to consider what could be chasing them. Based on Malfoy's reaction, it had to be big.
What he needed was some sort of plan. He couldn't keep this pace up for much longer. His legs threatened to give out on him and he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs.
He could see no place to hide and with Malfoy in his current condition there was no way they could climb a tree. Which might not do any good anyway as he didn't know the size of the creature chasing them.
Harry's every instinct told him to turn towards the danger and fight. But without his wand or hearing and with a helpless Malfoy to protect he knew that wasn't an option. He was responsible for another's life. He didn't take that responsibility lightly.
The terrifying events of the evening seemed to have washed away some of the distaste Harry felt for his rival. What had started off as his conscience and sense of guilt that kept him from leaving the other boy behind had turned into a very strange feeling of togetherness. They were in this together now, whether they liked it or not.
His legs were starting to cramp painfully. He stumbled and struggled to remain upright after tripping over his own feet. His deafness was disorienting him, badly affecting his balance. His lungs were starting to burn, heart pounding almost painfully.
Harry knew he was reaching the end of his strength. He couldn't run for much longer.
As he started to go over potential courses of action to get them out of this mess, it was taken out of his hands.
They had entered a small, circular clearing. Harry came to a dead stop, paralyzed when he saw that they were now surrounded.
He could make out huge shadowy shapes all around them, slowly closing in.
It had been a trap. Apparently they had been herded to this very spot.
Harry's mind seemed to have frozen in shock. He couldn't believe that he, Harry Potter, who had survived several attempts on his life by the most powerful evil wizard of the time, was about to meet his end at the hand (if these creatures even had hands) of some unknown monster. Partly responsible for the death of another student.
It was that last thought that sprung Harry into action. The memory of Cedric was still a painful part of him. He would not stand by and let another classmate meet his demise while he, Harry, could still fight.
A new determination filled him.
Even exhausted, deaf and without a wand he would defend himself and Draco no matter what.
Almost immediately Harry's resolve faltered when the first creature stepped out of the shadows.
The monsters were huge. Taller than Hagrid and nearly twice as wide, each a wall of solid muscle walking upright on two tree truck-like legs. They reminded Harry of the troll he and his friends faced in their first year. He reckoned the monstrosity before him now must be some how related, a different species of troll.
But these trolls seemed to be far more intelligent.
And more brutal.
Harry could see long, claw-like nails protruding from their huge hands.
He looked up, horrorstruck; at the one he assumed was the leader. It leered down at him, baring its long, uneven teeth.
Harry could only stand there, feet rooted to the spot, mind blank with panic. He didn't need his hearing to know that the monsters were moving in for the kill.
Feeling Draco's vise-like grip on his shoulders and panting breaths on the back of his neck drew Harry back to reality.
He needed to do something.
His hand itched to feel the familiar weight of his wand. He wondered how he ever survived without it.
The current helplessness he felt reminded him of when he was young and used that untrained, unfocused magic unconsciously, usually to escape from Dudley and his gang.
He was suddenly struck by a thought.
What if he could still do that? Do magic even without the aid of his wand or uttering spells?
When he had been young it had been unintentional. He hadn't known what he was doing, it just happened when he needed it to happen. Usually when he was desperate, with nowhere to run.
Well, he certainly was desperate now.
But Harry wasn't a little boy anymore. He was sixteen years old and almost a fully trained wizard.
And he had nothing to lose.
With a few muttered reassuring words Harry, as gently as possible, lowered Draco to the ground. Glancing into the other boy's face briefly.
Draco's strangely clouded eyes were wide with fear and it filled Harry with some newfound determination.
He would not waver this time. He would not fail to protect another classmate again, whether he liked him or not.
Harry stood upright and proud, all his earlier aches and pains forgotten. He pushed away the doubt that he wouldn't be able to do what he was planning to do. It had been many, many years since he had used that wild, uncontrolled magic.
It was no time to harbour doubts.
The troll leader was advancing on him now, huge clawed hand raised.
Harry steeled himself and closed his eyes. Desperately searching for that raw, frantic magic of his childhood. Praying that it would be enough to save he and Draco both.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Not much to say this time except.. thanks again to my reviewers! It's appreciated more than you know!
There was actually supposed to be more to this chapter, from Draco's pov, but I decided to save it for the next one. Again I wrote most of this at work (helps keep me sane at an extremely boring job) so sorry if some parts don't made sense. Trying to write and appear to be working at the same time can be difficult.. :o) Again, this may be changed around and edited later on.. depends if I change my mind or not..