Title: Learning Paradise
Author: RainShadow
Rating: PG-13, R later
Part: 4/10
Beta Reader: Unbeta'd ^^;
Learning Paradise
~Chapter Three~
That night it seemed as if some magical, frozen creature had breathed icy wind across the island. Harry shivered and curled up into a ball, rather sorry he had not kept more plant fluff for himself. He slipped in and out of wakefulness.
Malfoy was trembling in his sleep as well, but suddenly he sat up and scrambled to get outside. He made it to the entrance before his stomach heaved. Harry was awake and beside him in an instant. Draco rose, his face pale in the dim light. Harry stepped back, trying to process how he'd gotten where he was. Malfoy looked at Harry and shook his head groggily.
"Why the hell do you care about me, anyway?" he mumbled crossly.
"I don't!" he protested. "I'm just doing what any person with an ounce of compassion would do."
"Good Lord." Draco closed his eyes. "Forgive me for not having a great comeback as I'm rather ill. If you give me til tomorrow I'm sure I'll be able to come up with an appropriately caustic one." Harry sighed and gently closed a hand around Malfoy's wrist. Draco couldn't help but notice how icy his fingers were. His body was already shaking from the cold again as he recovered from his bout of sickness.
Harry pulled his robes off of him. "What're you doing?" he exclaimed.
"Lie down," Harry instructed. Grumbling, he curled up onto his bed-nest, and Harry spread his robes over him like a blanket. "You need liquids." he said authoritatively. "Tomorrow I'll go explore and see if I can find something to hold water." Draco barely heard him. He was *cold*. Harry turned to go.
"Potter, wait... I need-" he reached out timidly. Harry hesitated, then felt a chill wind blow over him. That decided it. He lay down on the pile of fluff, pulling the robes over himself. He wrapped his arms around Malfoy's shivering form. "'s freezing," Draco mumbled, closing his eyes and pretending that it wasn't Potter who was lying next to him. Combined body heat soon warmed them, and both drifted off into a warmer, if not exactly comfortable, sleep.
~
Ron rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Let me get this straight. I can talk to Harry?"
"Yes, dear, I believe we've already established that," Hermione said patiently.
"And this is because-"
"You destroyed the caster of the spell, or rather, your wand cast the spell that destroyed the caster of the spell. So your wand has become a weak link, but a link nonetheless, to Harry." Dumbledore explained.
"That's right, so you can talk to Harry. But we think it can only be done once..."
"...What do I say?"
"Find out if he's okay, and if possible, where he is. Tell him we're trying to get him back, and ask him to look around, sometimes other victims have been exiled to the same place."
Ron nodded. "Okay. When are we doing this?"
The potion needed to coat your wand won't be finished until tomorrow. There is nothing more to be done tonight. Go to bed, you two." The Headmaster ordered. Ron and Hermione exchanged weary glances, then got up.
"Thank you, sir."
"Good night."
~
Harry yawned and slowly opened his eyes, smelling the morning and something else he couldn't quite place- cologne? And then he felt his heat-provider next to him mumble something and everything came back to him, Voldemort, the island, Malfoy...
-whose arm was currently draped around his waist-
Slowly Harry removed himself from the tangle of leaves mistakenly called a bed and got slowly to his feet. His right thigh still ached, but not with the fire of the day before that he had steadily worked to ignore. This, at least, was more like a continuous dull pain. He stretched carefully and looked around for something to do. He had to do something productive or else he'd start thinking about- ah! Exploring, yes, that was a good idea.
He debated for a moment waking Malfoy up and telling him where he was going, but then decided against it. Malfoy had rolled over onto Harry's former spot and was sprawled on his back, snoring gently, and Harry couldn't help but smile. If ever there was a different side to a person... and so he left the cave with the smile still in place.
~
Hermione looked up from her cauldron at Ron, who was staring off into space, a troubled frown spilling across his freckled face.
"Are you ready?" she asked, setting down the wooden spoon and moving to stand next to him. He inhaled deeply.
"As ready as I'll ever be." he said tonelessly.
"Okay." she said. She reached over and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and he turned into her, pressing his face into the comforting heat of her neck. His breath was heavy on her skin. "Oh Ron..."
His voice muffled and strained, he cried, "What am I supposed to say the last time I see my best friend?!"
~
He stumbled over a tree root and when he looked up he gasped and reached up to touch his glasses to reassure himself that there were still in place. They were; and he was looking at a smallish, ramshackle hut that was leaning precariously to one side. One wall of it had fallen and the contents of the hut spilled out onto the forest floor. Harry shivered and walked closer, trying not to make comparison to the hut and the decaying body of some monstrous animal. So this island had been inhabited. The question was, what had happened to the hut's occupant? It was clear the hut had been abandoned for a long time, because the undergrowth had sprouted up inside of it. Fighting the urge to flee, Harry examined the rubble. His gaze alighted on a carved wooden bowl and with a small mental "aha!" he plucked it out of the weeds. Glancing around, he decided that it was time to go- no need to stay in this broken place alone any longer. Promising himself he'd come back, only next time with company, he hurried away.
He'd been walking for a while and the only sound that could be heard was the leaves and pine needles that crunched under his feet as Harry trudged through the thick undergrowth. After a while, he came upon a still pond. A film of green algae covered it, and Harry sat down next to it for a while, watching his pea-green image stare back at him. Anything to keep from thinking...
Suddenly, in front of him, hovering over the pond, a yellowish light appeared. Harry scooted backward in alarm, ears straining at the crackling sound that was emanating from the light- and then he jumped up, for he had heard Ron's voice!
"Ron!" he shouted joyfully, splashing into the stagnate water, trying to reach the light only to realize he had gone right through it. He turned around.
"Harry?" he was saying. "Harry! Can you hear me?"
"Yes Ron," he called, "I' m here."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he said, noting the distracted tone of his friend's voice. "Is everything okay? Where's Hermione? Did Sirius- is Voldemort-?"
"I'm here, too, Harry," Hermione's voice floated out of the light as if she were very far away.
"Voldemort's gone, Harry." Ron stated.
Harry let out a whoop that sent birds flapping into the air and echoed through the forest. He noticed that Ron had finally dropped the "You-Know-Who" nonsense. "That's fantastic!" he cried.
"There's a downside to it, Harry." Ron braced himself. "We can't bring you back."
Silence. Harry rocked backwards, stunned.
"But that doesn't mean we're giving up hope!" Hermione shouted.
"Oh, right, Dumbledore says to look for other people, they sometimes get exiled to the same place." Ron added.
"And I'm looking up information night and day." Hermione promised.
Harry found his voice. "I found an empty hut. And Malfoy's here, too." he stated quietly.
"Malfoy?" Both of their voices chorused, and then there was a pause. The light began to crackle. "Harry!" Ron shouted. "Stay with Malfoy! He may be your only way home!" And then there was a bright flash of light, and Harry was left alone again. Stunned, he made his way back to the cave automatically. He was finally snapped out of his daze when, looking around the cave, he noticed that Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.
~
TBC very soon, in fact I nearly have most of the next chapter written. All reviews will be answered at the end of the next chapter. by the way, chapter 10 of "My Fire, My Love" has been added, if you've ever read that (I know, it's been like 6 months since I updated) and I have two new little ficlets, "Bedroom Eyes" and "Electric Storms" of which I am quite proud. Read them? And please don't forget to review! ^_^
~RainShadow
