DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, nothing, nothing.A/N: Wow, hey! Long time no see! But, of course, I had lost my thread with this story, and then posted that entirely stupid Author's Note, which I took down. (As you can see.) Anyway. Here's the real chapter seven. I lost what I had originally written for it, so… I'm makin' it up, now. Yay! Fun times. Chapter Seven: Draco swept into the room, his cloak flaring out around him and settling with soft whispers when he stopped. Harry was asleep, again. He had tried so hard to hide his pain all throughout their exchange of hours before, but Draco had seen. He always could. Harry's breathing was deep and even, a peaceful, lulling sound that drew Draco in. Under any other circumstances, he would have awoken his guest without a second thought, but it seemed… Harry probably would never sleep this deeply again for a long time, if ever. A soldier's life was hard. For a moment, Draco was glad he had chosen the route of a scholar instead. "What a strange person you are, Harry," the other mused aloud. Up close like this, he really was beautiful. Time outdoors had burned his skin a shade of brown that Draco had never seen before on anyone, living as he did in this land of fair wintery people. Even his scars were exquisite. The young noble had never seen scars before, not like these. These were scars earned through sweat and tears and blood, worn as badges of honor, as proof that he had lived and lived well. Harry's hands, gently curled on the blankets, were rough and heavily calloused. Draco put his own hands next to them, and found them soft and weak-looking by comparison. Harry's hands looked… capable, strong. They could do anything, those hands. That dark hair was the most beautiful thing about him, though, that hair and his eyes, such amazing eyes… Draco turned abruptly. What was he thinking, pouring over a stranger's face like this? No wonder his father had said… the things that he said. This stranger, this boy-man, was an unknown. And an unknown was an enemy, no matter how… alluring… that unknown may be. "A strange… strange person." For a moment more, Draco let his gaze linger. Then he was gone. Harry's eyelids lifted slowly. How deeply had he slumbered that he could not immediately recall where he was? The sensation of nibbling on his fingertips reminded him. He was in the Black Castle, with a stranger who would not tell him his name. A beautiful stranger, he found himself thinking. Hedwig made a soft owl-noise and fluttered to a nearby ledge, choosing to stare out the window rather than at her musing charge. Harry pulled himself up slowly, trying to let both mind and body adjust. Had he just thought that that Malfoy, or whoever he was, was beautiful? The thought perturbed him greatly. Not so much because Malfoy was a man as because he was so potentially dangerous. Harry had known a great many beautiful people, both malignant and benign, and none had at once raised and lowered his defenses as this single person did. It was entirely inexplicable. Harry hated it. "Hedwig," Harry called softly to the bird, which swiveled her head around to look at him. "Do you know why we are here?" Hedwig hooted, but for Harry she had no words. This, too, had been bothering Harry for quite a while. "Why do you not speak?" Could it be that this far-flung continent's creatures were dumb? It was an unsettling thought. He was so used to having to beg the animals around him to still their fool tongues that to have not heard a single animal voice was disturbing. "Talking to your bird, boy?" Harry's head whipped around, making him wince. In the doorway stood Malfoy, wearing a superior smirk on his beautiful lips. "I daresay she shan't answer you." Harry's dark brows knit together. "…Why not?" Malfoy regarded him in mild surprise. "Animals do not speak, Harry." Malfoy chuckled. "Was your mind damaged as well as your body?" Harry shook his head. Malfoy's words made him angry, but the truth that drove them was too important to get sidetracked. "What do you mean? Back in—" Harry stopped himself, rephrased his sentence, "—Where I come from, it's getting them to shut their mouths that's the problem." Harry's green eyes lifted and caught Malfoy's grey ones. "Do the creatures here… not speak?" Harry watched as Malfoy's face transformed from one of ugly superiority to one of profound sadness. In four long, fluid strides Malfoy was at the window on the far side of the room, where Hedwig had been just moments before. For a long time he stared out that window, though at what Harry could not tell. "…You must come from somewhere… very far away from here. The animals of this continent have not spoken for hundreds of years." Harry frowned. "Surely some of them must…! The unicorns, what of the unicorns? Do they not speak?" "…" Malfoy seemed hesitant. "…The last of them… died… quite some time ago. There are no unicorns here." Harry sat bolt upright. What did he mean, no unicorns? The unicorns were what perpetuated the life of the land! The forest he had come through had been no dead and barren wasteland, it had life…! The unicorns were guardians of that life! "Then what stops your people from ruthlessly tearing down the forests?" Malfoy laughed his short, dry laugh. "Fear, mostly. Though none have ever seen one, the people of this continent still live in fear of the unicorns' wrath should they so much as touch one single tree. This will not last long. I suspect that in other parts, the fear has already been replaced by a driving need for more wood, more space, more… everything." The look on Harry's face was too much to bear; Malfoy looked away. "Mankind…" Harry spoke into the deep silence that grew up between the two of them. "What a terrible… and wasteful species." Malfoy said nothing; it was all that needed to be said. "Such contempt you have…" Should he show his hand now, so early on in the game? Malfoy hesitated, unsure. He was unused to these games of secrets that his parents had so deftly played. "…Are all gryphons this way?" Harry's head rose sharply. "So you knew…" Harry said guardedly. Malfoy shrugged his sharp, narrow shoulders. "For how long…?" "Long enough." Malfoy, even as untutored as he was in the rules of the game, knew enough to not give away everything all in one go. A little, a tease here, a peek there, keep their interest until you had what you wanted, then throw them away. Harry's hands clenched the blankets. This story obviously ran much deeper than Malfoy had at first supposed. "You must be from very far away, indeed, that you can be one of those. Yet…" Malfoy inclined his head. "Why do you travel about this way? Surely it is easier…?" "No," Harry cut him off sharply. "It is not." Malfoy merely shrugged once more. All at once he was very exhausted; perhaps Harry's company was tiring. Why that would be, he knew not. "I'll be taking my leave of you, then…" It was half a question. The answering nod felt so unusually like a dismissal that it stung Malfoy into anger. "Master Harry." The title was malicious. Both felt it add another stone to the wall between them. A/N: A terrible place to end it, isn't it? But, I'm at a loss on how to continue this chapter… I figured it would be better to end all of our pain now, rather than dragging it on. I just KNOW some reviews would keep my spirits and inspiration up… I'd love to hear from you all! R&R!