Title: Lest we forget

Author: DR asia

Ratings: G

Pairing: None (or pre-slash, really pre-slash)

Categories: AU/Drama

Disclaimer: The last time I checked, I wasn't her.

Summary: AU Two 10-year-olds meet up again after two years, Featuring child!Harry and child!Draco!

Warnings: For one, Voldermort (aka Dark Lord) doesn't exist. So, James and Lily lived until they (really) died in a car accident. Secondly, I have taken some liberties with the Malfoy family…well you'll see when you read it.

AN: I honestly don't know how big the ship is, forgive me if I made some idiotic mistakes! And I realised that I forgot to thank the reviewers the last time (stupid me), so… Thanks for giving me a smile! ^__^

Lest we forget

Chapter 2

            The ship really was quite big, almost the size of three football fields. Harry fervently hoped that he wouldn't get lost in the gigantic body of metal. There were many levels too (Mrs. Figg had explained that they were called decks), all twelve of them.

            There were also many facilities available. There was the dining hall (he couldn't wait to taste the delicacies he had heard so much about), the arcade (the sheer size of the place was intoxicating enough), the sundeck (very…sunny) and of course all the rooms (his favourite place yet, he saw some dolphins when he was at the balcony!)

            There were other parts of the liner that he hadn't explored yet. Mrs. Figg had warned him not to go out of their rooms or out of her sight, as it would be dangerous for a little boy like him to be wandering around alone. It was just their first day, he had plenty of other opportunities the next day.

            He also needed to eat his food first.

*************

            After a delicious meal of pork ribs and chocolate pudding, Harry was full. Finishing his orange juice in one gulp, he surveyed the rest of the noisy restaurant. People of all ages were gathered there, contented with their food and surroundings.

            His eyes were suddenly drawn to a person who seemed somewhat familiar. A person about his own age, with blond hair… and who was currently sneaking away from his parents.

            Harry glanced up at Mrs. Figg and found that she was engaged with a conversation with one of the women at their table. Something about stray cats. After weighing his choices, he decided that he would follow the boy before he disappeared into the crowd.

            After all, they were on a ship. He couldn't get lost that easily, right?

*************

            Draco hummed to himself happily, as he climbed the stairs to the open space a few decks up. He was carrying out his promise to explore the ship as soon as he could. He wanted to know where most of the places were at within the first few days.

            And to do that, he had decided that he was to start from the top to the bottom. He had his dinner at around 6pm, so there should be still some time before night came. His only worry was that he didn't tell his parents about his plan, but it shouldn't be a problem since they were planning to go to a ball later that evening. They would be too busy to notice him gone.

            He hoped.

            He continued climbing the stairs until he saw that he had reached the top. Well, almost the top. There were still some more flights of stairs but a gate prevented him from going any further. Perhaps they were leading to the place where the captain worked) his father had told him about that).

            Nevertheless, his excitement could only mount as he saw the wide space about him. Feeling as though he was going to giggle any moment, he ran to the side and gasped in awe.

            The ocean was so huge! The water seemed to stretch endlessly across the horizon. The gradually fading light was more than sufficient for him to see the beauty of the ocean. But one look down at the waters around the ship reminded him of how dangerous it was. He quickly stepped back and put some distance between the railings and him.

            He turned his attention to the boat itself. One end of the deck seemed to be some kind of a lounge. Perhaps his parents were coming here later. But the red and white boats at the sides interested him more.

            "Lifeboats." He recognised them.

            Without checking to see if anyone was watching him, he went to one of the smaller boats. Draco let his small fingers ran over the surface of the boat. It felt rough against the pads of his fingertips. He then spotted a ladder connecting to the lifeboat and with a grin, began to climb inside.

            This was beginning to prove to be a very interesting exploration indeed.

            He lifted the heavy material covering the inside of the boat and went in. Total darkness. He didn't know that it would be so dark in there. He panicked, and started to reach for the ladder when his hand touched something warm.

            "Ow!" Muffled but very much alive.

            "Argh!" Draco started to scream, but that something managed to climb inside of the lifeboat with him and put a small, slightly shaking hand on his mouth.

            "Wait! Don't scream." The whispered voice was boyish and distinct.

            Draco fumbled on the boat until his hand knocked into a cylindrical object. A torchlight! He switched it on and blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light.

            Surprisingly, the other occupant was a boy like him. He looked around Draco's age (which was ten), had black hair and bright green eyes whose light were partly dimmed by a pair of spectacles. He also looked as scared as Draco felt.

            They continued staring at each other as their laboured breathing slowly clamed down.

            Suddenly, the other boy spotted another torchlight resting a bit behind Draco. He reached past him and turned it on. All at once, the enclosed space that they were in seemed much clearer and brighter.

            The lifeboat which they were at looked as if it could hold about dozens of full-grown adults. It also came equipped with the usual first-aid kit, torchlights, survival whistles, ropes and life jackets.

             But what seemed to glow brighter than the other items on the boat were the food and water rations. Food bars of different flavours, biscuits and a few water packets lay attractively (or at least, to the boys) in a box.

            And it was all for their taking.

            "Wow."

            "Cool."

            The boys temporary forgot their fears as they both reached for the box and the treasure it held within.

            They arranged themselves into a more comfortable position on the base of the boat. Facing each other with only the lights from the torch lights and a little bit of the light from the ship itself to help them see, they put the box of food in between them.

            Only hesitating for a moment, Draco opened the lid and started to select a few food bars. Tearing away the wrapper, he started to munch on the nutritional cereal snack. Yummy… chocolate-flavoured. Draco smiled as he continued to sample the snack; he loved chocolate.

            Following Draco's actions, the other boy also picked out a few flavoured bars that he liked before closing the box.

            As they eat, they began to talk to each other.

            "My name is Draco, what's yours?" he asked.

            "Harry."

            "So, Harry, why did you climb up here?"

            "I…I followed you."

            "Followed me?"

            "Yes, I thought that you looked familiar. I think that I've met you before."

            "Really?" Draco was puzzled. This boy, Harry, was claiming that they had met before, but he couldn't recognise him. Well, maybe it was too dark to see who was he really. Perhaps he was one of the peers he had met at the parties his mother was so fond of and insisted on attending.

            "Hmm… this is really good." Harry spoke up, licking up the remains of the bars on his fingers.

Draco nodded, agreeing. Soon, he polished off the food and drank a few gulps of water.

After both of them had finished their cleaning, they settled down again, this time, side by side. Although the cloth that was used to cover the lifeboat remained in its place, there were still a few gaps which allowed the salty sea-air to enter.

They faced these gaps, talking about nothing in particular until their eyes grew heavy and finally fell asleep.

*************

            But while the two boys were dreaming, their parents (or guardian, in Harry's case) were worried sick. The adults had discovered, after dinner, that their charges had disappeared!

            "Oh my, where can Harry be?" Mrs. Figg was saying that as she paced on the carpet of the lounge, her hands kept worrying her handkerchief. "I told him not to go out exploring without me!"

            "Exactly! I thought Draco would ought to know by now that he cannot be alone on this ship! It is dangerous!" Lucius Malfoy exclaimed, walking around in circles, mimicking Mrs. Figg's actions.

            "Lucius, will you stop walking around like that?" Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius's wife, said as she put down the cocktail she had been drinking. "You're giving me a headache."

            "Narcissa! Draco is missing! Why aren't you worried at all?"

            "Relax, Lucius. We're on a ship. It had a confined area. He will be found. Eventually." She replied calmly.

            "As we are obviously wasting our time, why don't we retire to our rooms for the night? "she continued, "Perhaps the boys are already exhausted from whatever they had been doing and are waiting for us in there."

            "Yes, perhaps." Mrs. Figg mumbled, already searching for her room keys.

            "Well, in any case," Lucius commanded, "if the boys are still not found in the morning, we shall meet back here. Let's say, 10am?"

            Having agreed to the arrangement, they went back to their rooms in hopes that they would find the boys sleeping soundly in their beds.

            Of course, Harry and Draco weren't in their beds.

*************

tbc…