Spring Flower and the Gateway

Draco started towards the great hall but decided he wasn't hungry. Instead he went outside to the lake. Once there he called Aurelia to him. she came from the owlery. Now, with Aurelia sitting next to him, he could think. That girl, Aurora, she liked him too and, for the first time in his life, he didn't hate Harry Potter. Rather, he felt friendly towards him.

As Draco sat there, lost in his revere, amajestic creature came up behind him. It walked silently across the grass, nearly upon him. Suddenly, Aurelia took flight, shrieking and whistling as loud as she could. Draco heard it and slowly turned his head to see what was behind him.

" AAAAWWWWWWOOOOOO!!!!" Draco ran for the castle. He could hear it behind him. He dared not look back or even close the front door, he just ran. He ran to the dungeons and into the Guidance classroom. He hid under a desk as he waited for normal breath to return.

He heard footsteps in the room and tried not to panic. Just then the footsteps stopped, right by the desk Draco was hiding beneath. "Hello!" Harry said smiling. Draco was so surprised that he banged his head on the table before managing to stand up properly.

"Hi" he said blankly. He felt awkward, not being mean to Potter. It was strange, a foreign thing to him. " I didn't see you at dinner" Harry said. " I wasn't hungry." Draco replied rather more coldly than he wished. " There is something following you" Harry said and Draco looked up in fear. "How do you know that?" he asked. "I saw it, it's in the classroom now even." Harry replied completely calm.

" Very well done Harry!" A voice said from the shadows. "You've caught on quicklier than I ever would have expected. You're a natural it seems. So would you mind telling Mr. Malfoy what's going on, if you can?" Said Aurora. " Certainly!" Harry replied "And thank you. Well Draco, this subject, Guidance, is about connections. Whether it be between people, inanimate objects, or, in our case, animals." Harry stated in a very Hermione-like way.

Draco looked puzzled so Harry went on. " There is now a connection between me and you, thanks to Aurora. Because of that connection both of us have made connections to an animal, unknowingly of course for you. I actually called for mine, but anyway would you like to meet your familiar?" Harry asked enthusiastically. Draco still had no idea what he was talking about and nodded his head cautiously. " Well then, call for it." Draco was puzzled " How?" he asked.

"Draco, you know when you're alone? Your heart calls out to all living things, while only one will respond to your call. Tonight when you went to the lake, you unknowingly called and you were answered. Think about it Draco, think about the lake and the calm of the night wind and the stars, the moonlight on your face. Imagine it and concentrate on it." Aurora told him.

Draco closed his eyes and imagined the lake and the calm of the night wind and the stars, and the feeling of moonlight on his face. He woke up on the stone floor of the classroom. He had been knocked over by a large creature. He looked down his chest at the looming figure of an extremely large wolf. Harry laughed along with Aurora. "You'd think it was a girl on top of him, the way he's blushing!" Harry commented on Draco's expression of embarrassment. " Shut up, Harry!" Draco said as he slowly sat up. " It's not like you'll have an easier time" He taunted. "I already got mine, and it wasn't that difficult for me Draco, sorry" Harry said. " Really, Harry?" Aurora asked him. " You already have your familiar? Where is it?" She asked him. Harry stopped laughing. It's, well it's..." He trailed off nervously. " Yes Harry, where is it?" Aurora asked him again. She was growing suspicious of Harry, thinking maybe he just wanted to tease Draco and hadn't actually gotten his familiar.

" Well, Aurora if you really want to know, it's...right behind you." Harry said nonchalantly. Aurora turned slowly and froze. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She slowly backed up when "RRRRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!" She screamed and fell backwards. Harry managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

" Geez, He's not that scary, is he?" Harry asked jokingly. "If you're referring to the extremely large lion Harry, then YES IT'S SCARY!!!!!" Aurora yelled. Harry couldn't stop laughing as the lion sauntered over to him and sat right next to Harry. Draco helped Aurora off the floor and took a seat at the desk next to him. The wolf lay down beneath his feet. Harry finally managed to stop laughing and Aurora had regained enough of her dignity to talk again.

" Well, you've both done very well. I never expected you to get even this far especially in such a short amount of time." She said. "but didn't you say earlier that there was another time this happened, another kid did the same thing?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry, me. I received my familiar about 6 months ago." She told them. " Well how old are you now?" Draco asked. " I'm 16 Draco, slightly younger than you." She blushed and Draco felt his own cheeks get hot. Harry saw this and said " Should I leave you two alone?" Both blushed deeper at this. " No Harry, sorry. Well for now you may go, but you may not tell anyone about this." she instructed them.

" Where will our animals stay while we're in class?" Harry asked. " Well they can stay in my office, which is rather large, or as I would expect, they will stay in the forest. Goodnight!" And with that, she left. Draco and Harry stared at each other. " Well, um, that was quite interesting!" Harry said. "Yes, it was" Draco replied. " Do you have a name for your lion yet Harry?" Draco asked. " You could say that, he has his own name, not one I gave him though, you should ask your wolf what his name his" Harry suggested. Then Draco heard a voice, in his head. " My name is Akina, and I am not a he." it said. " HER name is Akina, Harry." Draco told him. " Oh, that's nice."Harry said. " And what is your lion's name Harry?"Draco asked. " His name is Kado." Harry replied.

" Well, I guess we should let them outside" Draco suggested, it was awkward talking to Potter like this and he wanted to go to sleep. So the two of them made sure no one was in the hall and led the two animals to the front door. Once there, Harry and Draco said goodbye to Akina and Kado with a promise to visit tomorrow.

By the way, Akina means Spring Flower and Kado means Gateway, in case you were wondering about the title. toodles!