Author: Shinigami... aka meg
Summary: dh. AU. A chance and a mystery is forced onto Harry. Yet fate is never kind enough to warn you when things become rough. So when you fall too deep too fast who can you rely on? Fantasy/adventure/romance
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K Rowling and whatever else is suppose to be here, you can imagine it for yourself.
Pairings: Draco/Harry. Positively the cutest, I guess there are other pairs but I'm not focusing on them. Ron/Hermione, maybe sb/rl or ss I have no idea as of yet lol
Warnings: Slash yaoi and homosexuality whichever term preferred and err ... I don't write lemon or lime or anything graphic but I'm never sure.
An: This is my favorite chapter in this story... I don't really know if I should bother to continue this though. I wrote it ages ago and my focus has been on the beauty and the beast. But I thought I'd put this up anyway since I like it.
oh yeah almost forgot... shanks for da reviews!!! there wasn't any light because he was using the moon-light. sorrz i didn't mention it.
Chapter two. Lessons to learn
He was looking at three large monsters, definitely not horses, Harry just stared, he'd never seen a beast so big in his entire life. But then he had hardly ever left his uncle's house his entire life and never even ventured outside the village of Pivot. Harry felt slightly nauseous they wanted him to manage these horses when he didn't even reach past the ends of their legs? Harry sighed nervously chewing his lip.
Lupin walked into the stables, today he was going to be taught the art of managing a horse or horses. Harry stared up at the beast and hoped it wouldn't eat him.
"So what do you think of them?" Lupin walked across and started gathering some things,
"Honestly?" Harry asked, Lupin was by far the least scariest man of the group and the only member who'd bother to acknowledge him at times.
"Yes."
"Um... awfully big and creepy," One of the horses seemed to have heard him because it flicked its ear and turned its head towards him then tried to take a bite out of him. Harry yelped and jumped back.
"Well they're docile enough, but you might want to watch out for Sirius horse," Lupin said waving to horse that had tried to take a piece of Harry. "He bites." Lupin chuckled.
"Sirius?" Harry asked he still hadn't heard their full names, Lupin turned to face Harry with a frown on his face.
"Ah, my full name is Remus Lupin, Sirius Black is the man who was with me when we...hired you. And you can call Moody just Moody or he'll get moody." Lupin laughed at his own joke. Harry rolled his eyes and nodded smiling. "Well lets first learn how to saddle and bridle a horse properly, we have all day anyway." Harry nodded and got to it.
He smelled putrid, he was exhausted, hungry and bruised all over. He had learned to saddle, bridle, clean (this was extremely hard since he had to stand on a bucket half the time.) Exercise (run away while the horses chased after him), check for stones in their hooves (gain quick reflexes when they tried to kick him) and other such minorities. Then learned to ride which was Harry's first attempt and was pathetic, he fell off most of the time and had barely avoided having his head smashed out with rouge hooves. After he had finally got the hang of riding they had moved onto tying and releasing their ties in case of emergency, his fingers were sore from the repetitive motions and he had missed both lunch and dinner because of the horses.
So here he was smelling putrid, feeling exhausted, hungry and bruised all over.
"That was extremely good, I didn't think you'd learn so quickly. But you still need to work on you're timing you take too long while doing things." Lupin stated, Harry stared at the other man while looking quite thin and worn compared to Black and Moody he had a lot of stamina and strength to Harry's amazement. Then it got him thinking if he was so strong, the other two were probably stronger... probably faster too. Therefore, he couldn't run away. Sigh.
Lupin had missed breakfast, lunch and dinner as well but didn't even seem to realize, maybe the man didn't eat thought Harry to himself. Well he personally was starving.
"Um... Lupin?" Harry ventured, Lupin turned his golden eyes to him, "Is there anything to.. err.. eat?"
"Oh, we missed lunch," he looked to the sky, "and probably dinner too, you should have told me. I'll get you something when we're at the inn."
Harry had received a pair of gloves and a cloak when they were back at the inn. He was told by Sirius to wear it when they traveled and not to get them extremely dirty or torn and then was directed to the showers with Sirius waving his hand in front of his pinched nose. Harry had folded and shoved the gifts into his bag before taking out his bedclothes and dragging them down to the showers.
Harry glared at water trying to heat it with his eyes, it was too late to have it heated so he'd have to take a cold shower. He dragged the bucket over his head and yelped as hot water cascaded over him. He filled it up again and placed his hand in the water... cold. He dragged it over him again and was rewarded with hot water. Weird... Harry thought to himself.
He finished his weird bath, yawning, washed his clothes and left them to dry before dragging his tired body up to the room he was sharing with the men.
"Harry, here." Lupin said, Harry turned to face him and grabbed a cold sandwich, two apples and a glass of fruit juice. He sat on his bed and ate, they hadn't informed Harry of what they were doing or going, so Harry hadn't asked.
He was given the bed furthest from the window, and he was itching to stare at the stars but realized he was much too tired today. They'd have to wait for him Harry thought before taking off his glasses and falling back on his bed asleep.
He woke up to hushed voices, he didn't open his eyes but slowly shifted to a position where he could hear better.
"We've searched this whole village, he isn't anywhere." Someone grumbled
"But people have seen him around. That means he was here and has either left or is..."
"Dead." Somebody sighed softly. "Do we keep looking for him?"
"We need a definite answer, the town's folk are burning corpses tomorrow I'll search there. If we have an answer, we leave for Trwin in a day or two." A scratchy voice said
"That's a long journey, what about the boy?" someone asked gruffly,
"He will come with us," someone insisted, "I can feel something inside him."
"Do you think he has- "
"Not here," someone grumbled loudly
"In any case we need a helper and he learns quickly." A soft voice said
"Tomorrow he's having sword lessons." Somebody chuckled.
Something was grumbled to quietly to hear and a light was turned off, Harry kept his eyes closed and thought about what he had heard. Okay that was strange he thought to himself. So they're looking for someone, and they think he could be dead. Hmm... then they're leaving to Trwin. Where was that? He tried to jog an old geography lesson from memory but couldn't place that name to a location. Ah, well guess I'm being dragged along for the ride he thought. What was it that they thought he had he thought before falling asleep again.
"Harry get up now." A voice commanded, Harry groaned damn his muscles hurt, he was unused to all that hard physical activity. "I said get up!" he was roughly shoved off the bed, Harry yelped before landing on his sore butt.
"I'm up..." he croaked he blinked and realized it was ages until dawn, he felt around for his glasses and put them on, he blinked and looked up to the angry face of Sirius Black. Today was going to be a very long day, sighing he got up.
"Hurry up and get dressed, you can break fast after some quick stretches and a lap or two around the village." Black had already turned around and was walking out of the room. A lap or two around the village... he was joking right?
His legs were aching he did not think he could possibly stand ever again. He was sweating and the day hadn't even started he had finished running around the village and was lying sprawled on the grass.
"Get up," Harry sighed...why me? He got up and a plate of food was shoved under his nose, he grabbed the plate tiredly and ate ravenously. Sirius was carrying a wooded sword and Harry had one at his feet.
After eating, he put the plate away and grabbed his wooden sword and watched Sirius pace in front of him. Harry bit his lip, he was nervous.
"I'll be impressed if you can at least block my attacks during this lesson," Sirius ventured, Harry groaned mentally. "First I'm going to show you how to hold, stand and then swing your sword. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Harry quietly responded.
The only words to describe his sword skills were worse than horrifying, worse than his pathetic riding skills and they had only stared to swing the sword. Harry held onto his wooden sword tightly and swung it around in a 'sharp low arch,' or so it was called. His could be more described as swinging madly with hardly any strength involved.
"You, are worse than pathetic!" Sirius hit him across the head as he managed to fail another swing properly. At this rate, he wouldn't have any brain cells left after the day was over. "Are you even trying?" Sirius growled.
"I am!" Harry finally shouted back and got another slap across his head, he winced Black could really hit hard even when he wasn't even trying.
"Okay," Sirius took a deep breath, "now let's start with a diagonal slash, you try hitting me and I'll block and try putting some strength in it. And I'll hit back so be ready to block." Harry winced he had already felt what it was like to be hit by Sirius sword even if it was wooden, it had left Harry almost crying rolled up on the floor. Okay so he was crying but he was still in denial over that.
Harry swung his sword in a diagonal slash and had it was blocked by Sirius, the shock making him drop his sword... oh damn. Sirius did a quick thrust and slammed the sword right in Harry's mid-section. Harry gasped, doubled-over and had his arms around himself, his vision blurred.
"Why the hell did you drop you're sword!!" Sirius shouted, Harry couldn't hear him he lurched forward and fainted.
He opened his eyes staring at blue sky and realized everything hurt, his head down to his toes, even his hair hurt. He groaned loudly realizing he was also drenched...huh? He slowly got up shaking the water out of hair.
"Are you okay?" a soft voice asked Harry turned having his head swim for a second, and saw Lupin watching him.
"Yeah..." he lied, he never ever wanted to see a damn sword ever again in his life, real or fake... they were evil.
"He finally awake?" a gruff voice asked. Harry sighed why couldn't he have stayed unconscious, at least until the day ended?
"Sirius he's only a child, don't hit him so hard!" Lupin said angrily, Sirius looked slightly taken back. Even Harry stared at him confused.
"I was holding back! I hardly hit him!" Sirius said in defense,
"You're taps send mountains quaking!" Lupin retorted, "I'm, astonished you haven't killed the poor boy."
Harry was feeling happy for a reason he couldn't fathom, Lupin cared? It made him feel slightly giddy.
"Alright already, don't have a fit. I'll hit him lighter." Sirius said while rolling his eyes. He wasn't finished...why me? Harry sighed quietly and stood up, he was so sore there was no way he was going to be able to move tomorrow. "Harry if there is one thing I cannot stress enough is. Don't. Drop. You're. Sword! Even a bad strike is still a strike you can do absolutely nothing without your sword. Well unless you're a fist fighter. Moreover, you are much to light and weak to have any strength behind a punch. So hold onto your bloody sword!" Sirius exclaimed.
Lupin looked at Harry from where he was sitting on the fence, they were in a beautifully small glade behind the village houses where no one would accidentally stumble upon them.
"So hurry up and hold you're sword in defense position for a slash!" Sirius ordered. Harry picked up his sword his back aching all the while, his arms were also complaining about the weight.
Harry gripped his sword tightly his legs spread slightly apart for balance and his knees slightly bent to ease pressure to his legs. Sirius did a quick one-handed back slash, Harry moved his sword slightly forward so Sirius sword wouldn't hit him on the head.
Harry grunted from the pressure of the opposing sword, but surprisingly didn't fall or let go of his sword. Harry sighed and relaxed and so was utterly unprepared for the next slash from Sirius.
He hit Harry hard on his arm, Harry cried out stumbled back and fell on his very sore butt.
"Harry. You. Do. Not. Relax. In the middle of a fight!" Sirius shouted walked forward and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back onto his feet. "Do you understand!?" he shouted his face close to Harry.
"Yes sir." Harry said quietly and tiredly, these people were going to work him into a very early grave Harry thought to himself. Why did he need these lessons anyway?
"I think he should have a break, did you feed him lunch?" Lupin questioned, Sirius let go of Harry's shirt.
"No, take him, I'm going to find Moody. He better be ready to practice when I get back though." Sirius warned as he turned and started walking away.
Harry wobbled slightly and sat back down on the grass. Tired. So tired.
"Well come on, I'll get you lunch and I'll teach you some defense moves for bigger and stronger opponents. Don't think bad of Sirius he isn't used to beginners, he had a natural talent for sword fighting from quite a young age." Lupin smiled and Harry looked up at him.
"I can't use it." Harry finally whispered. Lupin grabbed his arm and lifted him up with that extraordinary strength Lupin seemed to possess.
"I remember my first lesson in sword fighting, I was pretty pathetic myself but perseverance pays off. You're not strong enough because you never eat anything." Lupin stated ...well how exactly am I suppose to eat anything when you people keep pushing me around! Harry inwardly groaned to himself.
Harry stared at Lupin, trying vainly to mirror his moves, gradually he finally got the hang of some of the defense techniques. He wiped perspire from his forehead as well as pushing his hair back.
Sirius walked into the glade, he stretched Harry watched fascinated, the man was as flexible as a cat.
"I'll leave you two to it then," Lupin said and walked away out of the glade... oh great he was alone with the evil sword maniac.
"So you ready to try again?" Sirius asked staring directly at Harry. Harry gripped his sword and moved into an attack stance.
"Yes sir." Harry said quietly, Sirius grinned and moved into a defensive stance, Harry took a deep breath and charged, he did a quick rotating slash which was easily blocked, then jumped back and thrust his sword. Which was also knocked away and gave an easy opening for Sirius to strike, but he held back and waited for Harry to get into a defense stance.
Sirius then attacked, Harry saw the motion and instead of blocking crouched and swung his sword at Sirius legs. Sirius jumped and landed behind Harry before Harry could get up Sirius slammed his sword into Harry's back.
Harry ended up unfurled on the ground with his face in the grass. He didn't bother to move instead lay there and tried to stop his back from killing him and trying vainly not to faint.
"You haven't fainted again have you?" Sirius asked suspiciously, Harry slowly started to get up his hands and knees shaking with the effort.
"No... s-sir," Harry sat on the grass not quite sure if his legs would be able to support him.
"Well that was a much better bout, but really you have no endurance or stamina. Well get up, might as well go back to the inn and you can start some of those writing and reading stuff Lupin likes so much." Sirius grumbled, Harry didn't move.
"Um Sirius... can you help me up?" Harry asked quietly, too embarrassed to look up at his teacher. Sirius grabbed both Harry's arms and hauled him up, Harry held onto Sirius until he was almost sure he wasn't about to fall over again.
Well he was only 'almost' sure. He let go and his legs buckled beneath him, Sirius grabbed him before he could fall, and picked him up.
"Well at least you're light." Sirius grunted. "But really, you need to exercise more. How old are you?" Sirius asked in a slightly less harsh tone than he'd been using all day. Harry relaxed in Sirius arms.
"Twelve," Harry said before he rested his head on Sirius shoulder and fell asleep.
Harry woke up to some insistence shaking, he grumbled but opened his eyes to meet blurry golden ones.
"It's time for dinner, you've been asleep for a while, it'll be better if you stay up a while or you won't be able to sleep through the night." Harry yawned and quietly nodded and crawled out of bed.
"I'm going to take a shower before I eat, Lupin?" Harry asked as he searched the table for his glasses.
"Alright," Lupin answered.
Harry looked down at his food; all three of them were sitting at a table with the dinner set out. Harry thought it was weird never actually eating with other people before, he was slightly nervous... was he suppose to act in some way? He waited until someone had started eating before touching his food, he kept his eyes on his plate and didn't say a word.