Rose Orb Exposure
Chapter 2
Why can't he slow the hell down! Draco sighed and rolled his shoulders under the pack again looking listlessly at the stream a few feet from the rocky trail they were walking.
"Potter do you have my water bottles? I'm thirsty…can we stop?"
"Sure but I don't have your water bottles." Harry stepped off the path and headed over to a tree where he shrugged off his pack before sliding down to lean on it.
Draco narrowed his eyes at him once he hit the ground. "What do you mean you don't have my water bottles?"
Harry looked up at him tiredly before wiping his forearm across his face and leaning his head back against the tree. "I don't have them. Aren't they in your bag?"
"No! I couldn't fit them in with my sleeping bag! I took them out and put them…on the car seat next to your bag! I thought you'd pick them up!"
Harry sighed heavily. "Well my bag was too full. I've got some water bottles and hell we've got a ready supply." Harry gestured vaguely to the stream behind them.
"I'm not drinking from a fucking open river! I want my Evian water!"
"Huffy doesn't suit you Malfoy. You're acting like a spoiled bit…brat." Harry said indifferently.
"You might be willing to drink from any hole in the ground but I'm not!" Draco marched up to Harry and stood arms crossed over his chest in front of him. Harry looked up at him and blinked expectantly.
"Is this where you throw your tantrum?"
Draco growled and shrugged out of his pack heedless as it fell to the ground behind him. "Give me the bottles you got from home that still have water and you can drink your river water from the empties." Draco sneered.
"Anything to please you your high-ass-ness." Harry put on an exaggerated accent and opened his pack shoving their last six full bottles at him. "More weight for your bag. Serves you right. And at the rate you're walking, if you guzzle, you'll be drinking 'river' water anyway. Or dehydrating." Harry snorted.
Draco grabbed the bottles and gave Harry the finger before turning and kneeling to add his water to his bag. He waited, starting a bottle as Harry filled his four from the stream and replaced them in his pack. Harry flopped back tiredly to the ground watching Draco drink.
"What Potter?" Draco blew water off his lip and settled himself lightly onto the ground across from Harry who was watching him eyes narrowed.
"You do know Evian gets it's water from a spring right?"
"Duh. Your point?" Draco tilted the bottle back to his lips again.
"This is a spring too. Water is water." Harry arched an eyebrow at Draco before searching the ground for a moment. The next second Draco was rubbing his arm angrily from a rock mark.
"What the fuck was that for?"
"You're guzzling. Too much water at once. It's going to weigh you down during our hike. And I swear if you go any slower it'll take seven days up and seven down!"
Draco screwed down the bottle still angry and shoved it into his pack. "Well excuse me, but I don't hike often. In fact I've never hiked at all. I don't see the allure of walking all day, being bit by insects, stumbling over rocks and setting up camp in the middle of no where all with a giant bag on my back!" This said Draco put the pack back on himself again and stood.
"It supposed to be about enjoying the outdoors. Fresh air, open spaces, wildlife and the lack of modern day convenience, Malfoy." Harry heaved on his pack quickly and jogged to catch up to Draco who had started walking away. "I suppose with your sheltered life you don't see the fun in it."
"Well what does the Boy-Who-Lived see in it?" Draco sneered.
"Just what I said." Harry walked watching the ground closely. Draco arched an eyebrow at him.
"You find this…enjoyable?"
"Better than my past life isn't it?" Harry finally seemed to be growing irritated and snapped at him. Draco shut his mouth and walked silently.
"Potter…the silence is driving me loony faster than talking to you. So talk. Say something. I need some noise here dammit."
Harry sighed before slowing down so Draco was walking next to him. "What do you want me to say?"
"Something!" Draco stumbled trying to speed up his walking to suit Harry's pace and swore thinking he was going to fall before Harry caught him. "Thanks." He muttered self-consciously.
Harry nodded slightly letting go when he got his balance again. He sighed a few minutes later and showed his pace some more until he was ambling while Draco struggled along beside him. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Dunno." Draco kept his eyes on the ground like Harry had been doing earlier before shrugging. "How are we going to find this Orb just walking?"
Harry shifted next to him. "Well…I've been thinking about that and I figure we'll know when we find it."
Draco cocked his head. "How?"
"When one of us tries jumping the other?" Harry quirked a smile at Draco laughing when his eyes widened comically.
"Whoa, hold up…that's your big idea for finding the Orb?"
"You have something better?" Harry pointed out smirking.
"No! But…you're just going to wait until we start wanting to maul each other?" Draco's mouth dropped open as Harry shrugged and nodded.
"It's the only course of action there is. At least then we'll know vaguely where if not how or why. Well no…we'll know why. It'll be the Orb." Harry shook his head absentmindedly.
"Unless you secretly want to shag me into the floor and the Orb just loosens you up a bit." Draco snarked offhandedly. Harry just smirked in response though.
"Just as long as you know who's boss."
Draco sniffed. "Whatever Potter." He'd never admit it but the light banter was helping. "So…when's lunch?"
"'Fraid we can't stop for lunch. We're going too slow as it is. If we keep walking, and talking if you'd like, we may be able to stop for an early night."
Draco sighed. "Why can't we just take our time if we have to do this?"
"Because someone doesn't drink from every hole in the ground and we're going to run out of water soon?" Draco had the grace to just shrug and ignore the taunt. After all he was right, this time.
"So…what did you mean when you said hiking is better than your past life?"
Harry shot Draco a look. "Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow if you still feel like talking. I don't really feel like it right now."
"Okay…so…" They walked silently for a few more minutes before Draco got bored again. "Come on Potter I can't hold a one sided conversation here."
"I don't know what you want me to talk about!"
"Talk about yourself! I do it all the time…it's easy. Just say a lot of I's, me's and myself's." Draco grinned. Harry rolled his eyes.
"I, thinks you're annoying. Me, agrees. Myself, would like you to shut up."
Draco blinked. "So that's why house elves talk the way they do…" Draco nodded sagely. "They speak as the third person."
Harry groaned deeply and speeded up his walking.
Operation R.O.E. Report, 2004/05/20
Can you believe Potter left all my water in the car? And then had the nerve to suggest I drink from the fricking stream here like some commoner! I mean Merlin knows what's in that supposedly pure spring. People might litter in there. Animals drink from there! Animals might DO their…business in there! Hell, PEOPLE might do their business in there!
We're camping by the water again. Potter says the stream runs through the whole hiking trail. I think personally, he's taunting me by making us camping next to the water…I miss my Evian. I've taken his water and he's using our empties to get water from the stream for himself to drink. He claims he doesn't mind drinking from the stream but I haven't seen him touch his water yet. Then again he's probably trying to show me not to guzzle. Me! A Malfoy! Guzzle! I'm just not used to hiking that's all. I didn't know you're only supposed to drink a little itty bit of water every couple of hours.
No sign of your mystical magical artifact yet. I still don't think the piece of shit exists. For all you know mountain muggles might just be wanton wrenches. Oh and get this. Potter's brilliant plan for finding said artifact is for us to just wait until we want to maul each other! Like that's happening!
He's says it's the only course of action there is. And if we do it like that we'll know vaguely where the Orb is and how it's affecting all the muggles.
Honestly I still think this is a wild goose chase and I'm SICK of it already! On the other hand I think I've discovered why house elves talk the way they do…
Malfoy
A/N: Mad and bonkers, crazy, loopy, loony, hazy. Chaotic and neurotic, confusing. Demented and deranged particularly strange...oh blah...
