Hi everyone. It's me again. Here is the next chapter you've been waiting for.

I really don't like to complain but I have received two flames from the same person and what I was wondering is…if you don't like the story; why are you still reading it?

I don't own Harry Potter and Co.

Thoughts will be indicated by ( )

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

CHAPTER FOUR-FOUNTAIN TROUBLE

The four young men made their way to the middle of the city under the curious eyes of the elven people. Some didn't make a fuss at their appearance but others noticing the circlet around Draco's head gasp in shock and quickly bowed to their prince.

Draco tried to make the people feel better by smiling at them and greeting them. He also noticed that some of the older elves would look down at him as if they didn't think he was worth their time. This puzzled Draco so he told himself that he would discuss this with his grand father next time he saw him.

The three guards showed some of the more important homes and sites to the prince as they made their way towards the Fountains. After a half hour walk they had finally arrived at their destination. Draco watched as the elves lined up to get their urns filled with the sacred water.

The three guards started eyeing some lady elves and didn't notice that Draco had drifted off while watching the proceedings at the Fountain. Draco slowly walked towards the Fountain and looked in awe at the sculptures that lined the wall. They were depicting different magical creatures standing on the banks of a great lake. Draco loved art and new how to appreciate it.

He didn't move when an elf bumped into him. When the elf bumped into him again he looked around to see who was hitting him. As soon that he turned to see what was going on he felt someone push him down to the ground. He looked up to see two enraged elves looking at him and pointing swords at him. Draco looked at both of the men without a little bit of fear wondering what the hell was going on and where were his friends who were suppose to be guarding him.

Draco slowly got back up never looking away from the two men. "May I ask you why you pushed me down to the ground? All I was doing was admiring the Fountain."

"We just wanted to prove a point to our fellow elves that our new prince in not worthy of being or ruler. We don't need half humans to lead us. Humans are week and easily defeated." One of the men talked while the other smirked at Draco.

"So you think that by striking down someone with their back turned towards you will prove your point. From where I come from, that is the act of cowards. Can't you fight me by facing me or are you too cowardly to do so?" Draco gave the men a hard stare before continuing.

"Attacking an unharmed opponent must make you feel superior." Draco noticed that the crowd was getting thicker and forming a circle around them. The elf who spoke looked at everyone knowing that the words of his prince were making him look like a fool.

"My prince…." Drawled the elf mockingly. "I challenge you to a duel. No half human can beat an elven warrior in a fight."

Somehow Draco knew that this was a test that he had to pass or his grandfather's people would not accept him. The people wanted someone strong to rule them.

"I accept, I will need a weapon to defend myself." As soon as he said the words a sword was given to him by a bystander. Draco turned around and thanked the man. His eyes went wide when he recognized one of the guards that had picked him up at his home the day before. The guard smiled at him and wished him luck. Draco knew that the elf guard would not let him get killed but he also knew that he wouldn't interfere unless he was in real trouble.

Draco turned around and faced his opponent. He took out his wand and held it in one hand while he held the sword in the other. He thanked Merlin that his father had the idea of teaching him some self defense.

The other elf stood back and bowed to the prince. Draco bowed back and got in a fighting stance. His face was blank of any expression but a fire was burning in his eyes. Draco loved a challenge. He had grown up a lot in the last year. He had hid his real skills and the fact that he was an animagus from the school. They didn't know how powerful he really was. It was a matter of survival that your enemy would underestimate you. And that would prove to be his saving grace today. The elves seemed to think that he was defenseless.

The elf sent Draco a spell that looked a lot like Expeliarmus. So Draco used protego to stop the spell. It bounced of his shield and hit a bystander who fell to the ground unconscious. Worried for the innocent people that might get in the way Draco conjured up a dome around his opponent and himself. The elf looked shock at the magical power that Draco displayed.

"There is no need that someone standing on the side lines should get hurt by our fight." He said to the elf.

The elf nodded in agreement and continued his attack. After ten minutes of casting spells neither opponents was making any progress. The elf then decided to physically attack Draco. Bracing himself Draco blocked the attack from his opponent's sword. Draco was able to hold off his opponent for a while but he was fighting a loosing battle. He knew that the elf had superior skill and would soon disarm him. And as soon as the thought crossed his mind he did loose his sword to his opponent. Not willing to give up just yet Draco got down close to the ground and swept his leg around surprising the elf by making him fall to the ground. The fall took the wind out of the elf so Draco took the time to change into his animagus form to try and stop the fight. The elf's eyes grew wide in fear as his prince changed forms in front of him. Soon he was staring into the eyes of a ten foot silver colored ice dragon. Draco blew air around the elf making it freeze at the same time. The elf soon found himself disarmed and incased in an ice cage. After a few minutes when the elf conceded defeat Draco returned to his normal form and waved his wand to free his opponent.

"You may be superior to me in some aspects of fighting but remember that appearances may hide the power within. Never underestimate your opponents. There are many times that you could have defeated me but you thought that playing with me would make you look good in front of these people. And by giving me time to think of a strategy I was able to get the upper hand." Draco walked up to the elf and offered his hand to help him get up. The elf accepted and bowed giving Draco his apologies. Draco graciously accepted them knowing that the people wanted to see what he would do to the elf. Once the elf was standing Draco cast a sonorous charm on himself and turned around to talk to the crowd.

"I am not your enemy, I may be half human but that half is also that of a wizard. I am not a weakling even though I still need to improve. I only ask that you give me a chance to learn about this world and what I must do to be your king. I see that my grandfather is a great ruler and I only wish to follow in his footsteps." Draco stopped the charm and bowed to his people then he stood up strait to see what their reactions would be. To his great shock everyone got down on one knee and bowed their heads. Draco jumped when he heard his grandfather's voice behind him.

"The people have decided to accept you as their prince. The fact that they have gone down on their knees signifies that they see you as their future king. My boy, you must have really made an impression on them." The king chuckled when he saw his pale grandson look back at the elves that were now standing up.

"Grandfather, did they really do this for me or was it because you came here?"

"Yes they have done this for you, the only time that the elves have gotten down on their knees in front of me was when I was accepted as future ruler. It is tradition to do so. As we are a proud race to show respect to their king they will only kneel once. Kneeling is considered ceremonial, a sacred gesture in other words. What happened today was surprising on many levels. Usually it would take longer for you to get their approval. What went on to make them accept you so quickly? And why were you fighting aren't your guards suppose to stop any attack?"

"I don't know what I did that pleased them but I'm happy that they've accepted me. However about my guards. I think that you should let me handle it. I know that they probably feel bad about the attack and will have learned their lesson." Draco smirked at the three young men standing behind the king.

"We apologize your majesty… we never expected that someone would attack our prince on the sacred grounds of the Fountain." Cyriel was looking over worryingly at Draco while he apologized.

The king shook his head and looked back at his adviser Lord Aldron who had also came to see what the commotion was about. He and the king had arrived just in time to hear the end of Draco's speech and to see the elves get down on their knees. He took a long calculating look at the prince. Something told him that much power was hidden under the delicate look of the prince. He was curious as to what his sons would have to say about what had gone on not too long ago.

When the crowd had dispersed the two royals and their guards returned to the castle. The king told Draco and his guards to follow him into the conference room. There they sat around a table and waited for the questions to start.

The king first turned towards Cyriel. "Please explain why you were not at my grandson's side during the visit to the Fountain. I thought that our orders had been clear this morning.."

Cyriel gulped and nervously told the king that they had still been close to the prince but they had been looking at some of the maidens that were at the Fountain. When he was done explaining he looked at his father who was now glaring at him. He knew that there would be hell to pay once they got back home that evening. They had disgraced the family by letting their hormones overrule their judgment.

"Grandfather, Lord Aldron; please don't be too hard on them. I knew I had to stay with them and still I made my way towards the Fountain by myself. It is as much my fault as it is theirs. Please don't punish them, I think that seeing me in danger and fighting for my life was punishment enough."

Lord Aldron turned towards his prince. "Prince Draconis, my sons and their friends have failed in their duties. I will be lenient on them this time but next time they will get full punishment for what they have done. Let's just say that this one is a 'free bee' as the muggle expression goes."

"Thank you Lord Aldron. Next time I will also be more careful. I was quite shocked to get attack on my first outing with my guards but I think that I handled it ok."

Nigel who had been pretty quiet during the exchange yelled out "OK!...just ok… My prince. You have beaten one of the fully trained royal guards. He is fully trained in ALL the forms of fighting."

"I think that seeing my animagus form is what gave ne the advantage. If not he could have easily beaten me. He was holding back and I could tell. I would very much like a rematch when I'm fully trained. He must be quite the opponent. If all your guards are trained that way grandfather then I don't fear for your safety our mine."

Now it was Wendel's turn to speak up. "What does animagus mean my prince?"

Draco looked around and saw that the others were looking at him with curiosity shining in their eyes. "An animagus is a wizard or witch who can transform into an animal. It is not a very common skill. You need a lot of power and a certain amount of skill in transfiguration to accomplish it. Magical creatures as animal forms are very rare."

Lord Aldron was looking at Draco with a disbelieving look on his face. "To turn oneself into an animal is impossible."

"No it is not. At least not for wizards. My transfiguration teacher could turn into a cat, and my godfather can turn into a raven. I can try to teach the skill to you if you wish. I don't know if it will work with elven magic but we can give it a try."

The king smiled at his grandson. "What is your form my boy?"

"My form is that of an Ice Dragon. It took me close to a year to learn how to change because of the size of my animal and because that it is a magical form. It took my godfather six month to learn to be a normal animal. It requires a lot of meditation and you have to get to know yourself to find out what your inner animal is. The form always reflects the character of the person. It also helped that my godfather was a potion master and was able to brew the required potions that helped the process along."

The men continued discussing the duel late into the night. Lord Aldron had a better idea of what he needed to teach the young prince and so he retired to his quarters to make lesson plans. Draco just went back to his room and fell asleep fully dressed on his bed. In two days he would start his training and he had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to get much rest until he was finished. He was also exited about the next day as the rest of his family would come back to the castle and he would be officially presented to them. He had found out from the queen that he had two aunts who were both married and each had one child of their own. He couldn't wait to meet them.

TBC

Just another chapter done. I will post the next in a couple of days. Just remember that this fic is done so you wont have to worry about reading a fic and getting interested only to have it stop in the middle of the story. So thanks to all that reviewed and I'll see you all later.

Kungzoune