Title: The Silver Stag

Author: Shenlong [the_solitary_dragon@hotmail.com]

Archive: Fanfiction.net, under Water Dragon, and my site, the_solitary_dragon.tripod.com.

Category: Romance, possible angst later

Keywords: 7th year, Harry, Silver stag

Rating: PG (Possibility of PG-13 later, but not likely)

Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF

Warnings: SLASH, aka male/male relationships. Nothing graphic. Strange going-on's at Hogwarts. But, then again, when is there not?

Summary: After the defeat of Voldemort, everything seems peachy-keen. But is it really? And who is that mysterious Animagus?

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. (Disclaimer used is from Fictionalley.org and/or RestrictedSection.org. Again, no copyright or trademark infringement intended.)

~*~*~*~

Chapter 2


Harry flew furiously, without any concern for what time it was, though the molten sun was already peeking over the horizon. He was dimly aware that he was flying circles around Gryffindor Tower, but he didn't care--all he wanted to do was go away, away from Draco and those accusations. 'I didn't...I don't treat Draco like that...did I?'

As the rest of Hogwarts started to wake, Harry wheeled repeatedly in the lightening sky.

~*~*~

It was almost a week before Harry saw Draco again outside of classes and meals. It seemed like Draco was avoiding him--though, why, he didn't know. He was in the glade in the Forest almost every night, sometimes as a human, sometimes perched in the willow as a merlin. He noticed that there, among the peace of the forest, he slept better than he had in his room.

A chance meeting in the empty entrance hall gave Harry the opportunity to corner Draco alone. "Malfoy. We need to talk." Alright, so it wasn't the most original thing he'd ever said, but what was he supposed to say? "Don't avoid me"? "I think you're wrong, but let's talk anyway, so I can try to poke holes in your argument"? He didn't think either--or anything else he thought of, for that matter--would go over well with the blond Slytherin.

Draco looked tired, and slightly annoyed at having his peace disturbed. "What, Potter? I have somewhere to get to, you know," he drawled with a hint of his old smirk.

"About what you said, Malfoy." Harry paused, but couldn't think of much that would convince Malfoy that he was serious. "You're wrong." Well, blast, that probably wasn't it.

Malfoy laughed harshly. "I'm wrong? About what? You being delusional? You whining? What exactly was I wrong about?"

"You-you said I was trying to replace Ron and Hermione with you. I'm-I'm not."

"Sure, Potter? You don't sound at all convincing to me."

"Of course I'm sure!"

Malfoy shook his head, in a mockingly sad way. "You're delusional, Potter. Have you thought of moving to St. Mungo's?"

"Delusional?! Me?! Speak for yourself!"

Draco snorted in a very un-Malfoy-like manner. "Get real, Potter. Look at you. You expect everyone to fall all over themselves just to be your friend. At least I can tell if people don't like me."

"That would be most people, wouldn't it?"

"Shut up, Potter. At least I have real friends, not sycophants and people who only want to be known for being the friend of the Boy Who Lived."

Harry only raised an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe not so much the 'real friend' part, but at least I don't have a fan club."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

There was a moment of silence. It wondered how long it should hang around, but quickly disappeared as Draco finally opened his mouth to speak.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not the only one on who's regularly in Witch Weekly."

"Some people just can't resist my charms, Potter."

"Who's being delusional now?"

"Not me, of course."

"Believe what you want. It has nothing to do with me."

"Well, that's not what it sounds--" Draco broke off as the doors to the Great Hall creaked open and Dumbledore stepped out.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy," he acknowledged cheerfully. "So this is where you were. Your teachers and I would like to have a word with you."

'Oh, hell. What am I in trouble for now?' Draco groaned to himself as he reluctantly followed Dumbledore to his office.

~*~*~

Dumbledore beamed at them happily as he said his password to the stone gargoyle ("Harry London"). This did not reassure Harry at all, as he remembered how Dumbledore could be perfectly calm at the most panic-worthy times--something that makes him smile like that must be rather...interesting. To say the least.

In Dumbledore's office, the Heads of the Houses, prefects, and Head Girl were waiting for them. There were three prefects in each House, one each from the 5th, 6th, and 7th years. Harry was one of the Gryffindor prefects, with Ginny Weasley and a 5th year named Ceren Ashke [1]. The students stood around chatting amiably, while the professors spoke quietly amongst themselves.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I call this meeting to order."

Conversations gradually died down to murmurs, then faded away completely as everyone gave Dumbledore their complete attention.

"I suppose you are all wondering why you were called here." Mutters of acquiescence traveled though the room. "In the aftermath of the war with Voldemort,"--some people flinched the name--"people are tired, listless, and have little hope, especially here at Hogwarts. The school governors have suggested a contest, of sorts, to enliven the Hogwarts population."

The students and faculty stood in silence for a moment, digesting the information. Finally, a Ravenclaw spoke up. "What kind of contest?"

"Originally, we were thinking of staging the Triwizard Tournament again this year, but such requires much preparation. The school governors have proposed that we create a Hogwarts-only contest, since Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were not hit as hard in the war. I believe one suggested a quiz-bowl."

"What's a quiz-bowl?" Justin Finch-Fletchey asked curiously.

"It is, Mr. Finch-Fletchey, an academic competition which tests the overall knowledge of the competitors," Professor Sprout answered. "Muggle schools hold such competitions all the time."

"Remember, that was only a suggestion," Dumbledore cautioned. "Our objective is to engage the student body in something that does not deal with war."

"What about Quidditch?" Draco asked. Harry started. He had forgotten that the blonde was standing beside him.

"That, too, will help. But, as the student numbers are greatly diminished by Death Eater attacks, the games will have less competitive spirit involved in them. Everybody will be too busy remembering how this or that person would have made the game so much better to pay much attention to the remaining players."

Harry agreed silently. It was never quite the same playing Quidditch after Ron and Hermione's death. Every time he looked over at the goal posts and saw Natalie McDonald guarding the hoops, he thought of Ron, who had made Keeper in their 5th year.

"Wouldn't that be a problem, too, with any kind of competition?" Lisa Turpin, the Head Girl, asked. "I mean...with a quiz-bowl, in Ravenclaw, especially."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Yes. But there would also be the prospect of something new, something undone. That may outweigh the feeling of yearning for--absent friends."

Silence fell upon the room once more, each student musing over the newly-presented idea.

"We do not have to decide today," Professor McGonagall spoke up suddenly. "From now until Friday would be ample time to mull over these thoughts, would it not?"

Dumbledore nodded to her, eyes twinkling from some secret amusement. "Of course. There will be a prefect meeting after classes on Friday, then. Hopefully, that will give everyone the chance to think things over, and perhaps come up with another idea. Motion for adjournment?"

A Hufflepuff raised her hand.

"Is there a second?"

Ginny seconded the motion.

"Very well. Meeting adjourned." [2]

~*~*~

It was almost midnight. The Gryffindor 7th year boys' dormitory was dark, except for a sliver of moonlight falling on Harry's beside table. Harry waited until the breathing of his roommates grew even and slow with sleep, then crept over to the window and quietly released the latch to open the window. The sky outside was a velvety blue, lit only by the stars and 3rd quarter moon.

Harry took a deep breath and climbed onto the windowsill. He was too small to fit through the window as a human, so he changed into a merlin before escaping the confines of Gryffindor Tower for the open night sky.

'This is becoming a bloody habit,' he thought to himself as he winged through the trees. It wasn't hard for him to find the little glade with the pond on purpose anymore, after a week of practice. He broke through the long, thin willow branches, and entered the clearing to an unfamiliar sight. The great silver stag laid on the mossy banks of the pond, as he had done a week prior, and looked with big, doleful eyes at his reflection in the water.

Silently, Harry slipped back into his human body. Draco didn't notice. "Malfoy?" he asked hesitantly.

~*~*~*~

To be continued...

~*~*~*~

Footnotes: Eeples! Sorry for the delay! First, I wrote this other HP story (at ), then I wrote a 10-page Ch. 2, decided I didn't like it, discarded it, and wrote this one. So...*sigh* I'm sorry. *hangs head*

If anyone would like to suggest something for them to do instead of an academic contest, go ahead. I'll consider it, but if no one does, I'll just go ahead with that idea.

[1] Ten points to whoever can guess where the word ashke is from. Hint: It's from a fantasy series, and it means 'beloved'. My disclaimer will go in the next chappie, since I don't want to give it away.

[2] This is the way we do things in Key Club...when we want to get out of there, we honestly have to motion for it, and have a second. Model United Nations, too. The whole "I call this meeting to order" thing, too. I couldn't resist putting that in. Besides, I couldn't think of another way to end the thing...

Thanks go to...

sapphire-wolf, elven_girl13 [A merlin is a bird of prey, looking somewhat like an osprey, or a red-tailed hawk. Not as big as an eagle, but sizable. I had a few links to pics...but I lost them. It'd be easy to find some pics of merlins on Google.], beautifulelf, NayNymic [Um...I don't know how long I'll take to get to the 'Harry/Draco' part. The way I see it, it's not believable if they just start snogging in the hallway, or whatever. I think they need to sort of grow out of the arch-enemy-type relationship, and THEN the H/D part comes along. *sweatdrop* Sorry...]