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Author's note: Hello everyone! I feel really bad about taking so long to update but I had no choice; because of the season, my allergies and my asthma are really bad. Because I've been feeling a bit under the weather, my mother has made me get extra rest! Though I'm still feeling sick and short of breath, I'll try to update at least every 3 to 4 days.
To all those who reviewed: I LOVE YOU ALL! I really appreciate all the nice things you've had to say and I want you to keep reading and telling me what you think!
This chapter is what is leading to the actual meeting between Draco and Harry. Though this chapter does have Harry seeing Draco, they won't actually speak to each other until next chapter.
Chapter Five
Into the Woods
After traveling to the edge of the forest earlier that evening with Dumbledore, Harry found that he could not get the woods out of his mind. It had been so long since he traveled within the tree's silvery foliage and he longed to ride swiftly through the woods like he once did. He missed the quiet walks in the woods he would take with Hermione and his mother, or the playing they use to do by the waterfall. The young prince missed that kind of freedom. He longed desperately for it.
Almost frantic for fresh air, Harry decided to do something that he'd never done before-he would disobey his father and travel out into the forest alone. If King James found out, he'd be in a lot of trouble, especially because he was about to sneak off in the dead of night; it was most likely past midnight. Harry had no choice. Since no one was probably awake, no one would see him out and about. Who walks around in woods in the middle of night anyways?
(If only Harry knew what he'd run into, he might have decided to stay in his safe decorated room and his soft fluffy bed…)
Though, it didn't matter. Harry was practically going crazy, spending all his time in his rooms. It was most unnatural for an elf to spend so little time in the natural world.
Grabbing his silvery cloak that lay draped over his armchair, he quickly and quietly exited his suite.
He passed many of the long and vacant corridors of his palace home, making little noise; elves, having notoriously good hearing, would doubtless hear him if he were moving to loudly.
After what seemed like forever, he finally reached his destination- the royal stables. It was a rather small stable with only a few horses, but the royal family kept their swiftest steeds within the silvery wooden shed.
Draping his cloak on his back and using the hood to hide his fair elven face, he strode gracefully to his white horse Tevildo and mounted him easily.
Harry grinned widely as he sat on top of his horse. He couldn't believe how easy it was to sneak out! If he had known, he would have done it ages ago instead of wasting away in his garish room all by himself.
Just as he was about to use the reins to get the horse to trot away from the stables, the prince found his luck ran out.
"Prince Harold James! Is that you!" hissed an agitated female voice from behind him.
Harry groaned loudly and his shook his head sadly. He should have known his father would have him tracked! Harry nudged Tevildo around to see whom it was that caught him running out of the castle in the middle of the night.
A very angry Hermione was looking directly at Harry in a disappointed manner. With both hands on her hips, she began to berate the wayward prince. "Do you have any idea what time it is!" she screeched. "You could have been seen by Voldemort's Death Eaters, running around this time of night! I can't believe you would be so irresponsible! When your father finds out…!" Hermione continued to over exaggerate as Harry tuned out her nagging. He loved his cousin dearly, but she could be a real pain.
The prince sighed loudly and rolled his eyes in annoyance. " By the Nameless Being Hermione! Could you stop shouting at me for five seconds! You'll wake the entire palace up!" he said in frustration, waving his hand irritably towards the palace. "How did you know I was out here, huh? My father has you watching me, doesn't he?" Harry asked bitterly.
Hermione looked sharply at Harry; though, her face softened at his question. "No Harry, your father doesn't have anyone spying on you-not that I know of anyway. I just so happen to know you. I figured you'd try to pull something like this, especially after being in the woods earlier today." She walked closer to Harry and Tevildo, smiling slightly as she looked up at her cousin. "Besides, I always know when you're about to do something stupid."
Harry scowled darkly and pouted childishly at her. "I'm not being stupid. I'm just sick and tired of being kept caged in my own home!"
"Can't we talk about this tomorrow Harry? It's really late; we should both be in bed right now," She answered reasonably.
"No!" Harry answered loudly, causing Hermione's eyes to widen slightly. "I'm not going back to the castle right now! You might as well run to my father and tell him that I'm out of the palace because I'm not going back until I've ridden for awhile!"
"Honestly Harry, be sensible! Your father will kill you if he finds out about this," his cousin countered.
"I don't care! I'm going and no one is going to stop me!"
Hermione huffed in great frustration. If she didn't love Harry so much, she would have strangled him already. "Fine Harry, have it your way!" She walked closer to Harry and his white horse, until she was right next to them. She held out her hand to Harry and looked at him expectedly. "Well, help me up!"
"What!" Harry asked, looking at her as though she had gone mad.
"Do you really think I'm going to let you go out there by yourself? If you go, I'm going as well. Now, help me up!"
Harry groaned inwardly. He'd prefer to go by himself and be left alone; he looked at Hermione. There was no way that she was going to leave him alone. She never did.
He sighed to himself as he grabbed onto Hermione's slender hand, helping her on his horse. After both riders were situated on the horse securely, Harry nudged Tevildo onward, Hermione clutching Harry, and they rode swiftly through the trees.
Harry missed the feeling of the cool night wind blowing in his face and through his hair. The air was slightly fragrant due to the many beautiful flowers that grew throughout Greenwood. The ground was so covered with grass and flowers that it was almost too hard to hear the hooves of Tevildo as he rode through the woods. As they rode, Harry saw the moon was full and the sky had stars scattered throughout; that was the one thing that was most pleasant about the sky above Greenwood-it was always cloudless, especially at night.
Riding, Harry noticed the many elven lamps strewn through different trees, guiding the two cousins to their destination- the Waterfall of Simmering Enchantment. As long as Harry could remember, that was he and Hermione's favorite spot to play when they were little. Growing up, the two spent a lot of time their swimming and running about.
After ten minutes of riding they finally reached the beautiful waterfall and river. The gushing and the gurgling of the water and the smell of the falls lulled him into a sense of peace. He dismounted from Tevildo and held out his hand to help Hermione down. Harry looked around and sighed in relief as he walked next to the edge of the riverbank; he was pleased that he and Hermione were the only ones around. Though in was very late at night, many veelas traveled to the waterfall. Ever since he was kidnapped by the Greenwood veelas, he was wary of the lot of them. There was no need to worry; no one was around (or so he thought…)
Harry looked around his surroundings in delight. The water was a mass a shimmering silvery crystal blue, the golden trees were glittering about, and many fireflies were around. He glided gracefully next to Hermione and sat down next to her on the fluffy, soft green grass.
"I really miss coming here." Harry said looking around with a sad smile. "I wish I could come here more often."
Hermione smiled at Harry softly. "Yeah, I remember all the fun we used to have here." She turned to look at Harry as she heard he sigh dejectedly. She patted him on his soft hand. "I wouldn't worry so much if I were you. Your father was very happy with you today and the wards you put up. Maybe, he'll let you out of the palace a little more now that we're all protected by your spell."
Harry lay down on his back, with his arms behind his head, looking up into the sky. "He was only happy because I did everything correctly. Everything I do reflects on him." He paused in thought. "Sometimes I think he doesn't even like me. He's always so tense around me."
"Oh Harry don't be silly. He loves you! He just worries a lot!"
Harry snorted and gently pushed his long black curls out of his large eyes. "He loves me so much that he's forcing Cedric on me! I want to marry for love; is that so mush to ask for?"
Hermione's striking honey colored eyes dimmed with sadness. "Sometimes I think it's best not to love too much," she said quietly. "You'll only end up hurt or hurting someone else."
Harry looked at Hermione sadly, knowing whom she was referring about.
It was well known throughout the court of the sadness and growing depression of Hermione's mother Petunia. As time seemed to pass, Harry's aunt grew worse and worse; there was nothing Hermione and Lily could do to help her. Eight years ago, after Harry was abducted for the third time, Remus was one of the casualties of the fight to get the elven prince back. Remus was a good man, a very distant cousin of Sirius and James, and a good father and husband to Hermione and Petunia. When Remus went missing, Petunia went into a deep misery after finding her husband gone. She and Hermione were never the same.
Hermione snapped herself out of her bout of grief and looked at her cousin with a forced smile plastered on her face. "What's wrong with Cedric anyways? He's gorgeous!"
Harry grinned at her. "Yeah, he's attractive, but I don't really see him in that, huh, special way," Harry answered timidly as he blushed lightly. "He's loyal first and foremost to my father. I'd like my spouse to place me before anyone else, including themselves."
"What's wrong with Cedric being loyal to your father? I would've thought that that would be a good thing," Hermione asked.
"It is a good thing, I suppose. Though, I'd prefer a husband that thinks for himself and does what he thinks is right, even if it goes against what everyone else thinks," Harry said with a dreamy sigh. "Someone who has experience in the outside world; who's been places and done brave things. Cedric isn't that type of elf. He prefers to play everything safe and do what he's told. Although," Harry added in thought, "I probably want an adventurer because I'm stuck here all the time."
Hermione giggled lightly at her cousin. "You just want someone as reckless as you are!"
The prince smirked at her. "Maybe, but whoever he is, he'll be just as handsome as Cedric, maybe even more so."
"I don't know. Not many elves I've seen are as handsome as Cedric, except for you. Maybe you'll…"
As Hermione was about to finish her sentence, a faint grunt was heard from behind one of the bushes near the waterfall. As Hermione and Harry turned in alert to see what made the noise, a soft thud was heard behind the same bush, as if something fell over causing the shrub to rustle.
Harry looked at Hermione curiously, "What do you suppose that was?"
Hermione looked nervously at her cousin. "I don't know, but I think we should go back to the palace immediately."
The prince, being as reckless and impulsive as Hermione said he was, completely ignored Hermione and started walking slowly to the bush to see what made the noise.
The elven maiden watched her cousin in anxiousness, as he walked toward the clatter. "Harry, please! Let's just go back home!" she said as she began to bite her nails edgily.
Harry held out his hand to silence her, as he stood over the bush. "Let me just see what…. Oh, by the Nameless Being!" Harry yelped in surprise, as he saw what or rather whom was behind the shrub.
Hermione jumped, looking wide-eyed at her cousin. "WHAT IS IT!"
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
For several hours straight, the former prince of the vampires traveled without rest, away from the Dark Lands. As Severus had ensured, the Chamber of Secrets was totally empty due to the Death Eater meeting, making it very easy for him to sneak out before Pansy or the Dark Lord noticed anything was amiss.
Being a vampire, he could travel miles and miles in only a short amount of hours, but due to Draco's physical condition, it was a wonder he hadn't already fell unconscious or dead.
He was still suffering terribly from the injuries he received from the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, not to mention the fact that he had not eaten and drunken anything in days. He could not stop anywhere for food, especially at the man village of Hogsmeade; he was absolutely filthy. No one would probably let him anywhere near their pubs or taverns.
It didn't matter anyways because he had no money.
Nothing hurt more then the pain he felt from the "love" curse he procured from Voldemort. The empty feeling spread throughout his body so that it felt like it was consuming his entire being. The tightness and heaviness in his chest grew excessively, making his breathy labored and shallow. A weight of worthlessness was placed on his back such that it was making him more hunched over then he usually was. He vision was in and out of focus due to his great burden and the fact that he was beaten so that both of his eyes were almost completely swollen shut.
He didn't know how long he could take of this. If this empty loneliness lasted any longer, he would probably lose his mind. And though he had many problems, especially his physical pain, all he could think about was his love; whomever his love was or if they even existed. In most cases he would feel ridiculous about pinning away like some lovesick fool, but at the moment all he could concentrate was finding the one he was to love. It was plaguing him; it was like an itch in his heart that he couldn't scratch.
Because Draco was in such a daze of pain and pity and because of the darkness of the sky, he didn't realize that he traveled to the one place Severus warned him against- Greenwood. In his haze, he traveled beyond the silver mist that surrounded the borders of the forest that was placed there by Prince Harry's spell. As he walked or staggered rather into the woods, passing through the mist, he almost instantly began to feel a bit better, though, not as great as he used to feel. Some of the weight on his back eased somewhat. He could feel the silvery mist of the woods caress his burning muscles and tired bones.
For an hour or so he traveled within the silver trees, near the center of the forest, not knowing where he was or where he was going. His mind seemed to completely shut done; he now relied on his body, which seemed to be pulling him to the edge of the forest. In his exhaustion he didn't realize the pull, yet he followed completely enraptured.
For several more minutes he walked heedlessly in Greenwood, until he heard the sound of water gushing down- water. Draco was so thirsty that the very sound of water made him wobble a bit more quickly to the source.
After ten minutes of traveling, he finally saw it- a large shimmering waterfall. Whatever fatigue he felt, he quickly ignored it as he stumbled immediately towards the water. It was only until he stood by some bushes near the river did he hear the voices. One was that of a soft delicate female and the other of a young male. His light and playful voice was beautiful, melodious, unlike any others. It flowed throughout Draco's mind, almost making it more bearable to breath and live another day.
The weight put on Draco's body and spirit lifted as he listened to the young man speak to his female companion. It sent Draco reeling in absolute delight such that he found himself smiling drunkenly. Pleasant chills traveled down his spine and his arms and legs were tingling. All the Death Eater could do was sigh in pleasure.
Draco's euphoria ended quite suddenly, however. The weight that was lifted off him was suddenly thrown back full force, causing him to stagger and lose more of the ability to breath and see. The boy had stopped speaking, and it was replaced by a soft girl's voice again. Draco groaned pitifully and quite loudly at the loss of the boy's voice, all the while not realizing that the boy's voice was what had soothed him in the first place.
The world began to spin nauseatingly around him.
It can come as no surprise that the prince of the vampires passed out right behind the bushes, crunching the silver shrubbery as he fell.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Hermione jumped, looking wide-eyed at her cousin. "WHAT IS IT!" the elf maiden sprinted to her cousin and prince to see what had caused the prince to pale so.
At the sight of the body that was found, Hermione gasped in horror as she put her hand over her mouth.
It was a man, or a man-like creature, either a veela, elf or vampire. He was terribly beat and dirty; his clothes were tattered and he didn't have on any shoes. Because he was such grimy and beaten mess, it was almost impossible to see his face or the real color of his hair.
"He doesn't look so good," said Harry, looking at the fallen man inquisitively.
Hermione stepped a bit closer with care, to take a better look. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He doesn't smell so good either."
Harry looked at Hermione in shock. "Who do you suppose he is? I've never seen him before. Do you think he's one of our men?"
Hermione looked at her cousin in confusion. "I have no idea, but I don't think he's an elf of Greenwood or a veela for that matter. If he was from Greenwood, what could possibly have caused him this much pain?" she said as she nodded towards his injuries.
"What should we do? We can't just leave him here?" Harry asked, as he looked at the battered man with pity.
"We should alert your father immediately!"
"What! Are you crazy? If he finds out that we've been traveling in the forest at night, he'll get us both. Not to mention what Aunt Petunia will do to you!" answered Harry frantically.
"Well, maybe we should just leave him out here! Someone else can find him and tend to him!"
Harry looked scandalized as he faced Hermione, "How could you even suggest that! We can't leave him here to die! That would be wrong!"
As Harry spoke, the man groaned again and moved his arm that was lying on his chest. There, on his left arm, for Harry and Hermione to see, was a red Dark Mark, a tattoo that was the symbol of Voldemort's Death Eaters. The very sight of the skull, with a large snake winding from its skeletal mouth, scared many people at the dreadful view of it.
Hermione jumped in fear as she grabbed Harry by the sleeve of his coat. "We have to get out of here right now and warn the king! He's got the Dark Mark!" she said anxiously as she pointed a shaking finger at the tattoo.
Harry yanked his sleeve away from her grip. "The Dark Mark! I thought the Dark Mark was black!"
Tugging at her curly hair impatiently, Hermione sighed in frustration as she looked at her cousin. "The Dark Mark is usually black but I've heard from Sirius that when a Death Eater's Mark is red, he is declared a traitor by the Dark Lord!" she answered quickly. "Now if you're done asking asinine questions, can we please get out of here!"
The prince continued to look intriguingly at the fallen man. "Well if he was declared a traitor, why should we be frightened of him?"
"Because, Harry, he's still a vampire! Do you know what vampires do to people! They eat them!" Hermione shrieked.
Harry still did not feel right about leaving the vampire here all by himself. If left alone, he could wake up and wander off somewhere, terrorizing the inhabitants of the forest. Though Harry doubted it. He could feel no danger from the Death Eater. If Harry was correct about his feelings, the vampire was probably harmless; Harry didn't say this aloud because Hermione would most likely think he was crazy.
The prince turned to his hysterical cousin. "Take Tevildo and go back to the palace. Get a healer we can trust and bring them back here by the waterfall! Tell them to bring as much medicine and creams that they can find," he said, not taking his eyes off the Death Eater.
"Right, let's patch him up so he can be strong enough to kill us later!" She snapped sarcastically, looking at her cousin as if he'd lost his mind.
"We're not leaving him out here to die Hermione! I don't care if he is a vampire or a Death Eater! If we tell father of this, we'll both be punished severely for being out of bed at this hour! Now, go get a healer and bring them back here as quickly as you can!"
"What, do you actually think that I'm going to leave you out here by yourself with him," she cried, as she pointed distastefully at the vampire, "I'm not leaving you here alone; he might wake up!"
"Hermione, I'll be fine! He's not going to wake up anytime soon! Look at him! He's in such a state that he probably won't wake up until the turn of the century! Please, just go get the healer. Once he's at least healed, we'll figure out what to do next."
"I don't know Harry…?" Hermione countered apprehensively.
"Just trust me Hermione! Now go before everyone in the palace wakes up and we're discovered missing!"
Hermione sighed in defeat. It was best that she listen to him. Though he was a bit impetuous, Harry always seemed to know what to do in a crisis, and if the Death Eater did wake up, Harry could use his wizard magic to stupefy him. "Alright Harry, alright I'll go get Healer Lavender and I'll make sure she has everything she needs." Hermione, with the help of Harry, mounted the large white horse. She looked once more at the unconscious Death Eater warily. "Be careful Harry. If he wakes up, stun him," she said sternly.
"I will Hermione. I'll be fine," Harry assured his cousin.
Hermione, though loathed to, instantly rode off towards the palace of Greenwood, leaving Harry alone with the vampire.
After his cousin was gone, Harry noticed how quiet and a bit eerie the forest was a night. All the night noises seemed to get louder, like the music of the crickets and the hoots of the owls.
The prince was starting to feel very nervous, trying to look anywhere but at the fallen Death Eater that lay right beside his feet. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Harry mumbled to himself bending down curiously to have a better look at the vampire. He felt a surge of sympathy and pity towards the Death Eater. Whatever he did, the Dark Lord must not have been pleased. But no one deserved to be tortured and hurt so that they weren't even recognizable. "Voldemort must be a real monster," he said, breaking the quiet eeriness.
The vampire's breathing seemed to become less labored as Harry watched him, causing the elf to become a bit more panicked. What if he woke up and tried to bite him? What if everything Hermione ranted and raved about vampires it was true? Harry grabbed his neck protectively.
The Death Eater groaned again, causing Harry to swallow thickly as he tugged uneasily at his silver elven cloak. But instead of moving away from the vampire like most would have done, Harry moved his face closer to get a better look. The elven prince was always a bit curious about the world outside of Greenwood and this man was obviously from the outer realms. "What in the world happened to you and how on earth did you get here?" Harry muttered softly, as he looked in the man's face. As he examined him, all the young prince could wonder was what the man usually looked like when he wasn't so downtrodden; that would give some indication of what was done to him and what type of agony he went through.
Taking a shaky breath, Harry moved his trembling hand towards the vampire's face, to push some of the man's long hair out of his beat-up face. The young prince noticed how soft the hair felt under his fingertips, despite its dirtiness. Harry wondered what color it was when it wasn't so soiled…
Just as Harry was about to poke the black and blue bruise on the Death's Eaters chin, he heard the sound of hooves beating softly on the ground. The prince immediately stood up, waiting on Hermione and Healer Lavender, who was also his mother's favorite chambermaid.
A flustered Hermione and a confused tired looking Lavender quickly dismounted from Tevildo and ran to Harry and the fallen vampire. Lavender, whose long blonde hair was usually pristine and neat, looked a bit of a mess, though it wasn't really her fault; it was the middle of the night and she had no idea why the prince and Hermione wanted her to come to the forest.
Lavender walked straight to Harry, with a look of utter annoyance on her face, almost tripping on her white lace sleeping gown because she was so sleepy. "What is the matter that you two have called me here at this time of night? I was trying to sleep!" she huffed at Harry.
"That it the matter," Harry said pointing at the unconscious man that lay before their feet.
The healer was so tired that she hadn't even noticed him lying on the ground. Lavender jumped away from the body in shock. "Who is th…? AHHH!" she bawled, trying to run away after getting a good view of his red Dark Mark. Her brown eyes widened in pronounced terror. "IT'S A DEATH EATER! DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU FOOLS, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
Because of her shouted so loudly, the collapsed Death Eater began to groan again, shifting his body slightly. All three elves froze, waiting to see if he'd awaken. Lavender whimpered.
Hermione clamped her hand over Lavender's loud mouth. "If you scream any louder, we'll all be in big trouble," she hissed while looking down at the vampire in dread. "If he wakes, he might slash all our throats!"
"What do you want me to do with him! Give him something that'll kill him while he sleeps?" Lavender asked after she pried Hermione's hand from her mouth.
"No. I want you to heal him," Harry answered firmly. "I don't think he came here to do any of us harm. Besides, the sooner he's feeling better, the sooner he'll leave!"
Lavender looked at him as if he was a lunatic. "You don't think he'll do us any harm!" she cried, gesturing wildly. "Forgive me my prince, but he's a vam…!"
"I know he's a vampire!" Harry snapped, "but we can't very well leave him like this!" He rubbed his eyes tiredly; he was starting to get sleepy. "You will clean his wombs then heal them. I've told you, he's not here to do us any harm! I can sense no malice from him."
"But…." Lavender floundered, looking at Hermione for support. She really wanted to get out of here, with the prince or not.
Hermione looked at Lavender thoughtfully. "If Harry says that he's not dangerous than I think we should believe him. He's never been wrong before."
Now Lavender looked at them both as if they'd gone mad. After standing there in thought for a few minutes, looking at the vampire suspiciously, she finally opened up her bag of medicine and salves. "Alright, I'll help you, your majesty. But if the king finds out, I had nothing to do with it," she said gesturing at the Death Eater.
Harry smiled gratefully at her, "Thank you Lavender, is there anything Hermione and I can do? Can my magic help?" he asked.
The healer looked up at him after examining the vampire's wounds. "If we use magic to treat him, it might make it worse. Most of these injuries were magically induced, so magic might do more harm to him. We've got to clean him and then I'll force some potions down his throat." She bent down, on her knees next to the wounded as she began rummaging through her bag. She finally handed Hermione and Harry identical daggers. They took them and looked at her questionably. Lavender answered their unasked question. "Harry I want you to use your dagger to cut open his shirt; it'll be easier than trying to pull it off of him. Then rub some of this ointment on any parts of his chest that are bruised or cut." She handed Harry a small white container; she than turned to Hermione. "I want you so cut alongside his trousers; make it from his ankle to his upper thigh. When you're done, use this on his head and face wounds," she said, handing Hermione another container. "If we get this stuff on him right now, he'll be completely healed by tomorrow; vampires tend to heal quickly anyways." The three began to work straight away, though two of them worked warily, realizing that the Death Eater could be healed by the next day.
Harry tentatively cut longitudinally along the vampire's shirt, pulling the cloth on either side of his body.
The elven prince could see that there were several gashes and bruises forming from whatever torture he had endured. Though many of the injuries went unnoticed by Harry as he stared at the Death Eater's torso; his breath caught in his throat, as he blushed bright red. Harry had never seen a half naked man before, except himself, but he supposed that if he had to look at anyone, this vampire would be the best specimen of what a man should look like.
The Death Eater was as pale as porcelain or white marble but not a sickly pale. His skin looked smooth, except where there were wounds. His arms and forearms were muscular; Harry could see the veins along his brawny arms, running through his well-developed biceps. Even his hands, with his long pale fingers, looked powerful as well as large. His shoulders were very broad and his neck was long but impressively built. Harry's wide eyes traveled further down his trunk, looking directly at the vampire's magnificent pectorals, which also bulged with tight hard muscle. His nipples were small and pink, pointing prominently on his large robust upper body. Emerald eyes scanned lower to the vampire's abdomen. Six rippled muscles could be seen clearly on his stomach. Bellow the muscles lay his navel, where pale hairs were growing. Harry's prying eyes looked done at the injured vampire's legs; his calf muscles were big as well as the muscles in his thighs; the elf had never seen legs so sturdy before. Harry sighed, in a complete daze…
"Harry, Harry!" cried Hermione. Harry looked at her quickly; his face burning bright red in shame as he realized that he was gawking. "I've been calling you for the past five minutes! Would you stop staring into space and get to work! I don't want to be here when he wakes up and I'm exhausted!" reprimanded Hermione.
"Sorry Hermione," he mumbled quietly. Trying to forget about what he was thinking about, Harry used the bowl of water and rag to softly wash the dirt and dried blood from the vampire's body. He watched intriguingly as the water ran down his chest.
Once he was done, he took the mint-scented ointment that he received from Lavender and rubbed it gently on his hands. He pressed tender hands along the Death Eater's body, feeling the soft skin and hard muscle. As Harry rubbed the cream on him, the vampire groaned softly, whether in pain or relief Harry did not know; he could feel the soft vibrations of the moan from under his fingertips. The elf found himself shuddering slightly.
Unconsciously, Harry poked himself in his soft, lean chest. His chest wasn't nearly as hard as the vampire's. If people thought he was beautiful, what would they think if they saw this Death Eater?
"HARRY!" Hermione half shouted in his ear, causing him to yelp and jump in surprise. "Are you alright, you seem a bit flushed?" She put her hand over his forehead to feel his temperature.
Harry frowned, batting her hand away from his face. "I'm fine Hermione. I'm just thinking about some things."
"Well you've got a lot to think about because Lavender's done healing him. What are we going to do with him now?" Hermione asked, looking at the vampire's face in aversion.
Harry followed Hermione's eyes as she looked into the Death Eater's face. It was now clean and free from any of its blemishes. It was a really nice face. "He's really handsome," he said, not realizing that he said it out loud.
Lavender bit her bottom lip and looked at the man she had helped mend, "Yeah, he is."
Hermione scowled and rolled her eyes. "As handsome as a blood sucking vampire can be I suppose. Now, what are we going to do now?"
Harry looked at Hermione exasperatingly. "I've already told you what we're going to do! We'll leave him here. He can find his own way out of here!"
"How do you know he'll leave?" Lavender asked, still looking in the vampire's pale face.
"Look, just trust me."
"Harry, I still think we should tell our parents about him," answered Hermione.
"Yeah go right ahead and do that, so Aunt Petunia can lock you up in your room like my father does to me!"
Lavender stood up from her spot and looked down at Hermione. "Let's just go alright. I'm tired and I've been crawling around on the ground for too long! It'll take him awhile to wake up anyways. We can figure out what to do tomorrow, when we're not so sleepy."
"Alright, have it your way," Hermione huffed, "but we're talking about this tomorrow."
"Fine, fine! Let's just get the hell out of here."
The elven trio walked away from the waterfall, riding Tevildo back to the palace. Each of the girls, when arriving to their rooms, fell into a deep and easy dreamless sleep. Harry's sleep, however, was filled with dreams of adventures and of a nameless face.
They didn't realize how soon Draco might wake up…
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Well, there you go! Another chapter.
I'm sorry if I got a bit carried away with the description of Draco (I love my boyfriend dearly, but if he looked like Draco, I'd be a very happy lady!). It was kinda important for Harry to think Draco was handsome because it'll make wooing Harry easier for Draco. The pair will have enough trouble later on in the story….
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK IN YOUR REVIEWS.
NEXT CHAPTER: HARRY WANDERS INTO THE FOREST AGAIN BY HIMSELF, AND FINALLY MEETS DRACO! THE TWO TALK A BIT. DRACO'S NOT REALLY OOC, SO HE'LL BE A BIT SHORT WITH HARRY AT FIRST!