Me, back again. Let's face it, we've all read these ruddy disclaimers enough times to know... we don't own these lovely characters or anything about them. We just like to torment them every now and then. So probable violence ahead, 'cause things are gonna get bumpy quick now.
Harry was not going to regret his decision. He was not. He already had a lifetime of regrets, and it was a heavy burden upon teenaged shoulders. Slumping, he fitted himself into the gnarled roots of an overlarge tree, robes puddling around him in the mud. He was so tired sometimes. Tired of the responsibility, tired of the expectations... just tired.
Forehead thunked softly against the rough bark of the tree's trunk, he huddled and shivered and gave into his misery. Sirius was dead. Dumbledore didn't trust him. Snape thought he was a fool. He had endangered his friends... Merlin. He was supposed to be some great saviour, and all he managed to do was muck things up.
Tears mingling with rainwater, he let despair and anger and every other pent up emotion wash over him. Impotent rage burst forth, and Harry beat his fists against the tree, screaming wordlessly. Not until his knuckles were ragged and bloody did he cease, tears drying up as quickly as they had come.
Now he just felt hollow... empty as a drum. Emotionally exhausted, he rested against the tree, eyes puffy and half-lidded.
"Defeated the evil tree, did you?"
Harry startled, scrambling up with his wand at the ready. Blearily peering through the streaked lenses of his glasses, he searched out the owner of the voice.
"Who's there?"
A low chuckle sounded, a cloaked figure stepping out of the lengthening shadows. Harry tightened his grasp on his wand, eyeing the figure uncertainly. Not tall enough to be an adult... a student, then.
Pale eyes flickered in the depths of the hood, and Harry's heart sank.
"Malfoy," he stated cooly, not lowering his wand.
"Potter. Trying to drown yourself?" Smirking, the blond lowered his hood and surveyed his waterlogged companion.
"Sod off, Malfoy."
"Awfully rude of you, Potter. The whole castle's in an uproar looking for you, you know," he lied smoothly, watching the other's face falter into lines of guilt. Ridiculously easy to read, Harry wore his heart on his sleeve... and Draco certainly wasn't above manipulating those too obvious emotions.
"And you gallantly volunteered to come find me?" Harry scoffed.
"No, you git. Dumbledore has all of the prefects out looking, and I just happen to be the lucky one to find you," another lie, this one accompanied by a roll of stormy grey eyes, as if he had so many other important things to be doing other than traipsing around the woods after a missing Harry Potter.
"Fine, you found me. Bloody congrats," sighed the sodden Gryffindor, lowering his wand at last. He tucked it back in the waistband of his overlarge jeans, turning to make his way back toward the little dirt path that led back around the lake.
Far too easy, Draco thought, whipping out his own wand to stun the other boy. Harry didn't even manage to turn around as the curse left Draco's lips, crumpling to the soggy ground without so much as a cry for help. Another roll of his eyes and the Slytherin advanced on his fallen classmate, nudging the boy in the side with a booted foot. Harry flopped bonelessly onto his back, mud and the remnants of tear-stains streaking pallid features. Draco quelled a sudden feeling of unease at how vulnerable the other boy looked, instead fishing in the pockets of his robes for a small charm, which he tied around one of Harry's bony wrists. Merlin, didn't the boy ever eat?
Kneeling there in the mud, he contemplated his next move. The new bit of jewelry Harry was sporting was a match to one worn around Draco's neck, and would prevent anyone from plotting their location, which was handy... especially this close to the school. All Draco had to do was get them both to the far wards, and then he could apparate them both to a more secure location. Lips pursed, he fumbled with Harry's robes, peeling the sodden fabric back to retrieve the other boy's wand... which was summarily tucked within a concealed pocket in his own rapidly dampening robes. Drat the weather, anyway.
Satisfied he had more than the upper hand, he straightened and stepped back to revive his... prisoner. Feeling unsettled by even the thought of that word, he shook himself and pointed the tip of his wand at the prone figure.
"Ennervate," he muttered quietly, watching Harry's lashes flutter to reveal those famously green eyes- now bright with betrayal.
"Just what do you think you're playing at, Malfoy?" he hissed, automatically reaching for his wand... and swearing when he discovered its removal.
"Shut it, Potter. Get up, and don't try to run or I'll do more than stun you this time," threatened Draco, the menace in his voice plain.
Harry obligingly stood, making an ineffectual effort to wipe his glasses off on muddy robes. That done, he folded arms across his chest, trying not muster the energy to glare at his opponent... managing a weak glower at best.
"Don't be stupid, Malfoy. We're in the ruddy Forest, and it'll be getting dark soon. Let's just go back to the castle and you can play junior Death Eater some other time," he sneered, feeling somewhat triumphant as the pale Slytherin flushed with irritation.
Draco leveled his wand at Harry, hissing a quick stinging hex, smirking as the other boy yelped and clapped a hand to his cheek- where a painful red weal had appeared.
"Are you mad? That was close to my eye," muttered an incensed Harry, gently fingering the new wound.
"I meant it when I told you to shut it, Potter. Now move, that way," the blond gritted out, gesturing deeper into the Forest. If they skirted too close to the edge, someone would likely spot them- he had no doubt that the Weasel and his girlfriend would be on the lookout, at the very least. So it was into the Forest with them... at least until they reached the edge of the wards protecting the campus. Harry muttered, but did as he was instructed, picking gingerly through the damp underbrush, robes trailing in the mud. Draco followed, wand pointed directly at the other boy's retreating back.
The rain had not ceased, fat droplets still filtering through the leafy canopy overhead. The heavy clouds produced an early twilight, lengthening the shadows in the forest into eerie shapes. Harry fought not to fidget or jump at every crackle of leaves, wondering if Draco knew just how many dangerous things were out here with them. His fingers twitched, dearly missing the reassuring presence of his wand... and he had to wonder what Draco had done with it. Did the other boy have it, or had he tossed it away?
He could hear the other boy behind him, spitting curses at the grasping vines and branches that plucked at his hair and robes. Harry caught at a lengthy branch as he passed, pushing it forward and then throwing himself down as it swung back, and judging from the muffled yelp it had hit Malfoy right in the face. Taking his chances, Harry scrambled up and took off at a dead sprint, throwing himself headlong into the gloom of the forest. He could hear the enraged Slytherin shouting curses at him, light sizzling through the woods as Draco cast haphazardly.
Harry was just beginning to feel a small flush of triumph when a well-aimed stunner caught him between the shoulder blades, inertia propelling him forward enough to connect with the reaching branches of a tree. A sharp pain blossomed, radiating out from the vicinity of his left shoulder and following him down into blessed darkness.