Title: Flip Side
Author: CuriousDreamWeaver
E-mail: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter are one of a kind. Maybe. Alternate worlds are meant to stay separate but not everything turns out the way they're supposed to. How much trouble can two Draco Malfoys and two Harry Potters get into? Especially when someone decides to up the ante and make things a whole lot worse for them all. Slash, het. HP/DM, HP/DM, RW/HG and more.
Warnings: There will be slash, mostly from the HP/DM department, um, violence in later chapters, and maybe a few lime scenes (very mild though).
Pairings: HP/DM, RW/HG, JP/LE, LM/NM, SB/RL/SS
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it. J. K. Rowling does and she's more the richer for it. I don't own Tekuu no Escaflowne either. I wish I owned Van and Folken Fanel though... LOL
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Flip Side
Chapter
Twelve: Confessions under pressure
In the weeks that followed, Harry seemed to take Dee's advice to heart and didn't approach Draco in public again. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't go out of his way to catch the blonde alone, much to Draco's chagrin.
This was one of those times.
"I swear, Potter, if you do not leave me alone, right now, I will hex your nose right off that ugly face of yours!" Draco yelled as he whirled around to face him. The only thing he could be thankful for in this situation was the fact it was the weekend, which meant there weren't any other students milling around them to get to class. That would have been incredibly embarrassing.
"Come on Draco, don't be so grouchy," Harry coaxed, though he was slightly disturbed by the threat. "You've got to come to lunch you know. Eating is essential to living."
"What do you care about my eating habits? And why are you following me?" Draco barely resisted the urge to tear his hair out. In the name of Merlin, why wouldn't the bastard just leave him alone?
"Because I want to get to know you better," Harry replied with a smile.
Draco stared at him in disbelief. "You want to get to know me better?" He repeated slowly. The boy's cheerfulness was almost frightening. Why was he smiling at him? Harry Potter did not smile at Draco Malfoy. It simply wasn't done!
'But isn't it such a nice smile?' Draco brutally shoved the voice away and scowled at the reason for his current troubles.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I mean, it's about time we buried the hatchet and all that. We should try and be friends."
Draco turned around on his heel and stalked down the hall. "No, let's not."
"But Draco!"
Draco ignored him and stomped around the corner. He stopped in front of the large nymph portrait and snapped out the password. The portrait swung open without a pause and he scowled at the two people sitting on the couch.
"Draco, what are you doing here?" Dee asked as she looked up from the book she was reading. J.P. twisted around slightly and gave him a nod of acknowledgement from where he was sprawled along the length of the couch, his head resting in Dee's lap.
"Can we talk?" he asked frostily, glaring at J.P.
"J.P., Would you mind?" Dee asked.
"Nah, I'll go find Harry and Ron," J.P. replied as he sat up and swung his legs to the floor. He stood up and stretched before leaning down and kissing her cheek. "See you later then." He gave Draco a grin when he saw the other blonde's annoyed expression. "See you around, Malfoy."
Draco sneered at the departing boy's back. Once the other boy had disappeared through the portraying entrance, he threw himself into the armchair beside Dee and huffed. "How can you stand him?"
Dee, used to this question, decided to ignore it and closed her book. "What's wrong? You seem a little tense."
Draco pressed the tips of his fingers against his temples. "Potter is being a stupid git again."
"Ah," Dee murmured. It was another one of those moments. She pursed her lips. At least Harry had enough sense to continue his pursuit in private. Well, if he hadn't, she was sure that Draco would have wiped him off the face of the Earth, love him or not. And she was sure he loved him. "What did he do this time?" she ventured casually.
"He's bloody well following me around! I can't go anywhere without him popping up from around the corner or from behind a statue or something!"
"Has he told you why?"
"I quote, 'to bury the hatchet'," Draco replied sourly.
"Perhaps he's telling the truth." She waved a hand and a tea set appeared on the table. "Please, help yourself."
"What is it with you and offering tea?" Draco asked even as he helped himself to a scone and a delicate china teacup filled with cinnamon tea.
"I like tea," Dee replied a little defensively. "It's nice and it's warm."
Draco made a small sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. "You're obsessed."
"I am not." Dee pouted.
"Yes, you are," Draco replied in a deadpan voice.
She poked his arm. "We are not here to discuss tea, we are here to discuss your Potter Problem."
Draco looked at her in horror, the scone halfway to his mouth. "You've given it a name?"
"Well, you do come here often enough complaining about him, I thought it was time I called it something." She paused and gave him a smile. "And it amuses me so."
Draco's expression became disgruntled. "This is to get back at me for my tea gibe, isn't it?"
"I would never do anything so petty," Dee replied with an angelic smile and ignored Draco's cough. "Now tell me what he did, aside from following you."
Draco bit into his scone and chewed angrily. He swallowed and sipped at his tea before he answered tersely. "He seems to be attempting to befriend me."
Dee blinked slowly. "Befriend you?"
"He wants to be my friend. He even told me that."
"And you don't want to be his friend?"
"He's a bloody Gryffindor!" Draco snapped. "I can't be his friend. It would never work."
Dee made a sympathetic noise as she sipped her tea. He hadn't denied he wanted a friendship between them, which, she supposed, was a good thing. "If his Housemates weren't in consideration, would you be his friend?"
Draco glowered at her. "What kind of question is that?"
"I'm curious. Indulge me."
"Who cares? It's not the case so why consider it?" Draco grit out in annoyance.
"He's going out of his way to be nice to you, isn't he?"
"He's a stalker."
"At least he's cute," Dee mused out loud.
Draco sputtered. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Dee replied as she smiled at him mischievously. "He's very cute with those glasses, isn't he? Of course, he's not as attractive as my J.P."
"J.P. is a brute." Draco muttered.
Dee raised an eyebrow. "A brute, you say?" She purred.
Draco almost flinched. He recognised that tone, it was the same one he and his father used when they were offended but weren't going to show it. The last thing he wanted to do, surprisingly, was offend Dee. He shifted. "Well, not a brute, just rough around the edges."
Dee nodded her head, seemingly mollified by his answer. "Now, back to your Potter Problem."
Draco groaned and slumped down in a pout. "Stop calling it that!"
"Then what, pray tell, do you want me to call it?"
"Anything. Nothing. Just help me," Draco said sulkily. "He's driving me crazy with all his rambles about friendship and all that. Bloody Gryffindor."
"Would you prefer to that he spat insults at you?" Dee asked calmly.
Draco shot her a sour look. "I'd rather it if I didn't have to see him at all."
Dee gave him an amused smile. "Draco, you go to school with him, you have half your classes with him. In all likelihood, you're going to have to see him at least once a day."
"Which is why it's bugging me! Merlin, do you know how many times he's cornered me this week alone?" When Dee made a sound indicating the negative, Draco continued. "Six! Six times! He doesn't know when to go away! I even threatened to hex his nose off and he still persisted!" Draco growled and placed his teacup back onto the table before burying his hands in his hair and letting out a soft sound of frustration.
"Maybe he's being honest and would really like to be your friend," Dee said gently as she watched him.
"Who cares? Do you have any idea what my Housemates would say if that happened? Let's not even go into the apoplectic fits that the Gryffindors would suffer if they saw us together," he growled before moaning. "My beautiful face would be beaten in and I would be ostracised from Slytherin House!" He covered his face. "I don't need this."
"Oh, Draco." Dee murmured as she laid a hand on his arm. He flinched slightly at the touch but didn't move away.
"Why did this have to happen now? If he'd just accepted my hand in First Year, this wouldn't be happening." Draco turned away from Dee's sympathetic gaze. "He should have just taken my hand and forgotten about that pathetic Weasel." He bit out the last words and closed his eyes tightly. God, just remembering it brought back the familiar pangs of pain that Harry's rejection always made him feel as well as other painful memories of his father. His expression became bleak as he wallowed in his darker thoughts.
Dee made a soft, neutral noise. She knew just how deeply Harry's rejection had hurt Draco, but in all fairness, Draco's past spitting hostility hadn't made matters any better. While he'd stopped attacking them whenever he saw them, the damage had already been done. His despair was almost tangible as he brooded next to her and she sighed deeply. Carefully, she reached out and clasped his hand in hers, entwining their fingers together. Draco didn't even seem to notice, too caught up in his own thoughts. She frowned slightly as she noted how dark his eyes had become and the unhappy expression that melted into something even deeper.
"Draco? Draco, snap out of it." She squeezed his fingers but he didn't move. "Draco!" she snapped, worried. When he still didn't react, she scooted over and pulled him down to her, his head lying on her lap. She slid her hands into his soft hair and began to murmur to him softly. She felt him tense, his eyes clearing as he stared up at her with a mixture of surprise and self-disgust. He made as though to sit up and she opened her mouth and began to sing to him.
1Win dain a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dein a loluca
En dragu a sei lain
Vi fa-ru les shutai am
En riga-lint
Draco couldn't believe she was singing to him. No one had ever sung to him before, his mother was a cold woman who had never shown him any affection; much less do something as intimate as comfort him. He felt her long fingers slide through his hair and he let out a soft sigh.
Win chent a lotica
En vai turi
Silota
Fin dein a loluca
Si katigura neuver
Floreria for chesti
Si entina
Dee remembered her mother had done this for her when she was a child. She felt a pang in her chest as she thought about why she had to be comforted. She watched as Draco's face relaxed, his eyes half closing as he listened to her voice. She smiled down at him warmly and sung the next verse.
Lalala…
Fontina Blu Cent
De Cravi esca letisimo
Lalala…
De quantian
La Finde reve
The slight change in tune seemed to emphasise the importance of the words and Draco concentrated on them, even though he knew he didn't know what language she was singing in. He had to ask her what the words meant.
Win dain a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dein a loluca
En dragu a sei lain
Vi fa-ru les shutai am
En riga-lint
As Dee's voice trailed off into silence, Draco stared up at the ceiling. He felt something warm spread through him and he looked up at her gently smiling face with a touch of amazement.
"What was that?"
"It's a song, from long ago. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a child. It's a lullaby that our people used to sing." She stroked his hair absently.
"Our people? Veelas?"
"Not quite. The Veelas in my world descended from another race of beings called the Draconians2." When Draco made a sound of surprise she nodded. "Yes, I read up on Veelas in this world and I think we're quite different."
"How?"
"Veelas of my world are renowned for their abilities to see things like the future, dowsing or seeing magical connections. There are very few of us, a few Houses, no more than a few hundred of us remain."
"So few!" Draco murmured with a frown. "Why is that?"
"Before we became Veelas, we were Draconians, like I said." She sighed and her eyes became soft as she recalled what her grandmother had told her. "There were thousands and thousands of Draconians all over the world. They were called the Children of the Sky, because of their wings. Humans called them angels." Her lips twitched up in an amused smile. "Humans, mages and muggles alike, never understood what they really were."
"They lived amongst humans?"
"Oh no!" Dee laughed and shook her head. "They found humans amusing. They thought of them as toys put upon the earth to keep them entertained, but entirely too common for them. No, they lived on the island of Atlantis."
"Atlantis?" Draco blinked up at her. "The Atlantis? Those are just legends."
"Mm, indeed. But legends always have a grain of truth in them. All of them."
"So what happened to them? Why did they become Veelas?"
"Like all powerful beings, they were tempted to take more than what was theirs. More than a thousand years ago, Draconians had become powerful enough to actually change the future, to shape it as they saw fit," Dee murmured.
"What did they do?" Draco asked curiously.
"To manipulate the lines of destiny is not something to be taken lightly. It requires an incredible amount of power and an even greater amount of control. Legends say that they wanted to change something they saw in the future, something that would bring about the destruction of their kind, and they gathered, all of them, into the centre of their city. The spell they cast was meant to nudge their future into another direction but something went wrong and they miscast their spell. Instead of changing the future, they brought the future to them."
"Merlin... They destroyed themselves?" Draco asked in horror. An entire race...
"Yes, they were all killed, every single one of them fell into shadow. Atlantis sank beneath the waves and their secrets were sealed away forever."
"But then how did Veelas come about?"
"There were those whose physical forms were the only things that were destroyed. Eventually, they became strong enough to give themselves physical bodies and became what are now known as Veelas."
"Interesting."
"My grandmother used to tell me stories about the Draconians when I was little, but I was never sure what was the truth and what were the embellishments."
"What does that song mean?"
"It's actually a lullaby," Dee said. "It's a rather morbid one though, in my opinion."
"Why's that?" Draco asked curiously as he sat up.
"It talks about the destruction or salvation of the world."
"Destruction or salvation? What kind of lullaby is that?"
"A bit heavy, isn't it? It has been passed down my mother's line since forever. It's funny, our names both mean dragon and the lullaby talks about dragons!" She laughed again and Draco smiled slightly.
"It is a rather amusing, I suppose."
Dee picked up her teacup and sipped from it. "I think it sounds more like a prophecy though, especially the wording."
Draco leant forward with a raised eyebrow. "A prophecy?"
"Piqued your interest, has it?" Dee said with a soft laugh. "It's just my opinion; I don't really have anything to back it up."
"So what does it say?"
"That dragons will bring about the salvation or the destruction of the world." She frowned in thought. "It mentions something about needing someone by their side or something. Maman never fully translated it to me and-" Dee didn't get to finish her sentence as she suddenly curled in on herself, her hands slapping against her forehead as she let out a cry of pain.
"Dee!" Draco cried in alarm and grabbed her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Dee didn't reply, instead, she grabbed onto his shoulders and curled into him, pressing her face into his shoulder as she gasped sharply in pain. Her back suddenly arched as she screamed, tears rolling down her face. Agony sizzled through her as she felt a dark satisfaction wash down the connection between her and Voldemort. Through the link, she could hear his sinister laugh. She could feel the cold caress of his fingers around her throat as he whispered dark promises in her ear.
"You belong to me and I will have you, you and Draco both. Just you wait; not even your Fire Prince can save you now."
Dee jerked, her head snapping up as she heard a phantom whisper in her ear. The voice was like silk, but so dark and cruel.
"No." Dee moaned out as she pressed her hands over her ears.
Draco was even more alarmed when she slumped against him, going completely limp. Draco pushed her away so he could look down at her face and cursed when he saw how pale she had become.
"Dee. Dee! Wake up, please." Draco slapped her again, slightly harder, but aside from the reddening of her cheek, she didn't respond. He looked towards the portrait door and grunted as he hefted her into his arms and ran out the portrait towards the infirmary.
Harry sighed as he watched Draco disappear through the portrait. He knew better than to follow the blonde. The last time he'd attempted to do so, Draco had been practically spitting in rage and Dee had levelled an identically cold glare at him. It wasn't very pleasant being in the receiving end of both their glares. Luckily, J.P. had saved him before it could escalate.
"Hey," Harry greeted J.P. as the other brunette stepped out of the portrait.
"Hey yourself." J.P. said cheerily. "Draco rejected you again, huh?"
"Yeah," Harry sighed in reply. He jerked his head towards the direction of Gryffindor Tower. "Want to go up to the tower?"
"Might as well. Draco's got Dee's attention for at least another hour or so," J.P. said as he and Harry made their way to the Tower.
"I don't think this is working," Harry muttered.
"Don't worry too much about it. See, the difference with Dee was that she and I were always friends. You and Draco on the other hand..." he trailed off with a shrug and stuck his hands in his pocket.
"I know," Harry replied as his shoulders slumped.
"But Dee thinks he likes you." J.P. said consolingly. "She thinks you should just take things slowly."
"If I take things any more slowly, nothing will happen!"
"Nothing's happening now." J.P. pointed out. "Just you wait, something'll happen. It always does." J.P. grinned. "Besides, Dee likes you. She thinks the both of you make a cute couple. She'll bring him around eventually."
"I guess."
"Buck up, mate!" J.P. slapped Harry on the back. "Trust me, it'll all work out in the end."
"I hope so."
"Come on, let's go see if Ron's up for a game of tag on our brooms after lunch."
"I think Mione's trying to get him to finish his Divination essay."
J.P. snickered as he thought about the Divination classes he'd taken in the past weeks. "It's a joke, mate, a total joke."
"Well, we do well in it," Harry said with a shrug and a grin. "All I have to say is that I'm going to die in a horrible way and she's happy."
"At least it's interesting to think up of ways to die," J.P. commented. "Blaise is really good at it. And when he and Ron get together, it's really entertaining!"
Harry looked at from with a thoughtful look on his face. "It's weird... Thinking about how you're friends with people I know who I wouldn't normally be friends with," Harry said.
J.P. scratched his head. "Yeah, it is a bit funny. I mean, I really, really don't like Zabini here," J.P. said with a scowl. "Bloody git won't stop flirting with Dee."
Harry had to duck his head to hide his smile. True enough, J.P. glared at Blaise whenever he was in the same room, though after J.P.'s little display in Care, Blaise tended not to approach Dee. Well, as long as J.P. was in the room anyway.
"You know, I think half the school is afraid of you," Harry said with amusement. "The Hufflepuffs are convinced that one look from you will turn them to ashes, the Ravenclaws want to study you, the majority of the Gryffindors think you're, as Seamus puts it, 'bloody awesome'. The Slytherins are the ones you have to worry about." Harry paused. "They're being quiet about it, and when they're being quiet, that's when you have to worry."
J.P. put his hands behind his head and shrugged. "Yeah, Dee mentioned something about that. She's heard all sorts of rumours about me." He grinned. "My favourite one's the one about me being a demon sent to devour their souls."
"They really think that?"
"Yeah, it's really kinda funny." He leant closer to him. "Apparently, they think I've got some sort of hold over Dee and I'm forcing her to do wicked things." He paused and his smile turned goofy. "Yeah, wicked things."
Harry rolled his eyes and jostled the other boy. "Stop it, you're making me envious."
J.P. gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but don't worry, once you have him, you'll know what I mean."
Harry turned red and coughed. "Er."
"Yeah, I'll bet that if Draco's anything like Dee, you'll be in for a really interesting time."
"Shut up!" Harry clapped his hands to his face in embarrassment and J.P.'s laugh rang out as he stepped up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Oh come on, it's not like you weren't imagining how it would be!" J.P. snickered and laughed when Harry punched his arm.
"Oh dear, maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey about that sunburn, dear," the Fat Lady said when she caught sight of Harry.
"No, no, I'm fine." Harry squeaked out in embarrassment.
"Jumping jacks." J.P. said cheerfully and stepped into the Common Room as soon as the portrait swung open.
"Hey Harry, J.P." Dean said amicably as he looked up from his game of Exploding Snap with Seamus.
"Why's Harry all red?" Seamus asked as he watched the mentioned boy rubbing his burning face.
"Oh, nothing much," J.P. said with a grin and dragged Harry over to Ron who was complaining loudly to his girlfriend.
"But Mione! I don't want to study!" Ron said with pleading eyes. "It's a great day outside, can't I go and fly around for a bit? Please? It's almost lunch time anyway."
"Yeah, please, Mione?" J.P. said.
"Yeah, please?" Harry said with a grin as he and J.P. nudged each other in amusement.
Hermione pursed her lips in annoyance. "You three are absolutely shameless. Shameless!"
"Please!" All three intoned with hopeful looks on their faces.
Trying to hold back her laughter, Hermione shook her head and made shooing motions. "Fine, fine. Go have your fun. But," she paused and looked at them meaningfully, "I expect you to come back before it gets too late so we can revise before dinner!" So saying, she gathered the books and stood up. "We'd better go off to lunch then."
The three boys helped Hermione put the books away before they started to tromp down to the Great Hall with a few other Gryffindors.
"Where's Dee?" Hermione asked J.P. as they settled down at Gryffindor table.
"Oh, she's with Draco," J.P. said as he started to spoon mashed potatoes onto his plate. "I don't think we'll be seeing her for a while."
"Oh," Hermione sighed in disappointment. She was quite eager to continue asking the other girl about her world and, to be honest; she enjoyed the Slytherin's company. It was nice to have an intellectual conversation with people who paid close attention to their grades as well.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll spend more time with you," J.P. said soothingly. "She really enjoys talking with you."
"Well, I'm sure we can go over some of our essays together," Hermione said with a smile which turned to a frown as she watched Ron wolf down his food. "Ronald Weasley! Swallow your food before you shove more in!"
"Mmph!" Ron made an indignant sound around a mouthful of bread and waved his spoon at her as he rolled his eyes.
"At least he's not talking with his mouth full," Harry said as he grabbed some cheese from the platter in front of him.
"I guess," Hermione conceded reluctantly. "But you've still got to learn how to eat properly!"
"I think he eats fine," J.P. said with a grin as he shoved a piece of bread in his mouth.
"Argh! I can't believe this! Didn't Dee teach you any manners?"
"Well, yeah, but she's not here to smack me upside the head," J.P. said with a smile. He ducked his head when Hermione made a swipe at him and snickered when she missed.
"Really, Mione, I think you should try and-" Harry cut himself off and gave a hiss of pain as he pressed a hand against his forehead. "Bugger," he hissed. He winced before curling up and hissing again. "Shit."
"What's wrong?" J.P. asked, alarmed as he watched the blood drain from Harry's face. He grabbed the other boy's shoulder to stop him from slamming his head into the table when he toppled over. He hauled Harry up and stared into his face.
"Harry!" J.P. shook him but Harry let out a low moan and that was quickly followed by a muffled shout of pain as he bit his lips furiously.
"Your Dragon belongs to me. You can't save him, Potter, he's mine."
Harry pressed his hands against his ears, shaking his head furiously as he tried to block out the cruel, mocking voice. He heard a rushing sound in his ears and he felt himself fall before everything faded away.
"Harry! Oh no, we have to get him to Pomfrey!" Hermione cried as she stood up and tugged on J.P.'s arm. Ron had already leapt to his feet and had made his way to J.P.'s side. Together, they both picked Harry up and ran out of the Great Hall, Hermione on their heels and the rest of the students shouting in alarm as they watched their hasty departure.
As the four of them ran towards the infirmary, they almost collided with a frantic looking Draco.
"What the? Malfoy!" Ron yelped as he almost tripped over the smaller boy.
"Watch where you're going, Weasel!" Draco snapped, though most of the sting was gone as he concentrated on keep Dee in his arms and not falling flat on his face.
"Dee!" J.P. almost dropped Harry when he saw Dee cradled in the other blonde's arms. "What the hell happened while I was gone?" he snarled.
"How should I know? One minute we were talking, the next she keeled over." Draco hissed as he adjusted his hold on her and followed them into the infirmary. "And what happened to Potter?" Draco kept the concern out of his voice, but not his face as he glanced back at the twisting brunette.
"The same thing that happened to Dee, I imagine." Hermione panted as she shoved open the doors of the infirmary.
"What's all this- Oh my!" Madam Pomfrey frowned. "Quick, set them down on the beds over there."
Draco hastily put Dee on the bed on the left as quickly and gently as he could and cast surreptitious glances towards the other bed as J.P. and Ron lay Harry down with a grunt.
"What happened to them?" Pomfrey said as she waved her wand over the both of them and muttered a few quick spells under her breath. Two large spheres of opaque grey hovered over the two on the bed for a moment before they turned a deep orange and started to pulse in time with each other.
"What does that mean?" Draco snapped worriedly.
"Physically, they're fine," Pomfrey replied. "But I can't say the same for their minds.
J.P. made a soft sound as he sank into the chair next to Dee's bed and grabbed her hand. "Are you saying she's... suffering mentally? Something like that?"
"It would seem so, yes," Pomfrey replied with a frown.
Dee made a soft keening sound and her face twisted into a pained grimace, just as Harry tried to curl into a ball. Draco made a move towards Harry but stopped himself, curling his hands into fists beneath his robe and moving towards Dee instead.
"I'll be right back," Pomfrey muttered as she disappeared into her office. A moment later, she strode out with the Headmaster behind her.
"I see," Dumbledore murmured as he eyed the two on the bed. "How long have they been like this?"
"Harry just started acting like this during lunch. A few minutes ago," Ron volunteered as he stared at his friend in worry.
"And Dee?"
"We were talking and she suddenly keeled over and started moaning," Draco replied with a frown. "She was repeating the word 'no' for a while before she just stopped saying anything coherent."
"I see." Dumbeldore's expression was troubled. Harry and Dee had stopped struggling and were just lying there with expressions of pain on both their faces.
"Madam Pomfrey!" J.P. said in alarm as he stood up, his fingers pressing against Dee's forehead. "Her scar, it's bleeding!"
True enough, Dee's silver hair became tinged with pink as blood started to seep out of her scar. Her eyes fluttered open and she reached up, clutching at J.P.'s shirt. Her large eyes filled with tears and J.P. bit his lip at the pain that darkened the silver to slate.
"Don't take him away from me!" Dee sobbed as she curled her fingers into J.P.'s robes and pulled him closer. "Please don't take J.P. away."
"What? I'm not going anywhere, baby. Shhhh..." J.P. smoothed her hair away from her forehead as Pomfrey performed a quick spell that wrapped a thick bandage around Dee's head.
"Please don't take him," Dee whimpered again as she pulled J.P. off balance and onto the bed with her. She buried herself against him and stopped crying, murmuring how much she loved him and how she wouldn't let anyone hurt him.
On the other bed, Ron and Hermione were having their own problems as they tried to stop a thrashing Harry from getting off the bed.
"God! Don't hurt him! Leave him alone!" Harry cried, his voice breaking on the last work as tears slid down the sides of his face. "Bastard!"
"Harry, please, calm down!" Hermione pleaded.
"C'mon, mate, snap out of it," Ron grunted as he caught an elbow to his stomach. "Ouch!"
"Draco!" Everything seemed to pause as Harry let out a wrenching yell. Ron's mouth dropped open and Hermione reared back in surprise.
"What..." Ron muttered as he looked down at his friend. "Did he just say Malfoy's name?"
"I believe he did..." Hermione said slowly, her eyes darting over to Draco's pale face as he stared at Harry in confusion. She frowned and looked at Dee and J.P., realising that Dee had stopped struggling, seemingly content lying in J.P.'s arms. "Malfoy," she ventured after clearing her throat.
Draco blinked rapidly and scowled at her. "What?"
"Come here."
"What? No." Draco shook his head in refusal.
Hermione scowled. "Come here, I want to try something."
"What makes you think I'll do anything you want, Granger?" Draco spat.
"Just get over here," Hermione said impatiently.
"No-"
"Mr. Malfoy, perhaps it would be best if you did so." Dumbledore said quietly, but when Draco looked at him, there was a suspicious sparkle in his eyes.
Draco scowled heavily and approached the Trio with an unhappy twist of his lips. "Fine, I'm here, now what?"
Hermione didn't say anything but pushed him closer to Harry. "Just stand there."
"What will this accomp-eep!" Draco let out a startled squawk when one of Harry's flailing arms caught his robes and closed tightly around the dark material. Draco suddenly found himself stumbling onto the bed and pressed down against the mattress as Harry curled his body over his, pressing Draco's face against his chest.
Ron gaped at the sight. "What-"
Hermione clapped a hand over Ron's mouth as she watched Draco struggled frantically in Harry's arms. "Hush, Ron! Look, Harry's stopped struggling." She whispered as Harry did indeed stop struggling.
"Potter, let go!" Draco snapped as he tried to get the arm wrapped around his waist to loosen, but it didn't help that one of his arms was pinned under Harry's ribs.
"Won't let them hurt you, Draco," Harry murmured, his eyes opening slowly as he clutched the other boy to him. "Protect you."
Draco felt his face go up in flames as Ron started to make choked sounds behind him. He heard Hermione twittering softly. Draco's struggles had stopped as soon as Harry opened his mouth and he closed his eyes tightly at the feeling that those words had evoked in him.
Oh God, what am I supposed to do now? Draco thought to himself as Harry nuzzled at his hair.
"Love you."
The bottom of Draco's world fell away at the husky confession.
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1 All righty! I'm not a creative person, I'm hopelessly lazy. I took this song from 'Escaflowne the Movie'. It's ancient Romanian actually, and was sung by Shanti Snyder. She's got a beautiful voice and the song's called 'Sora'. It's sung by... Well, the character Sora. LOL It's very, very pretty. Here's 'English' translation for it. It's not exact, it's what Van tells Hitomi it means and some of it is what Sora tells Folken.
In the darkness
The dragon wakes.
The dragon awakens.
To a heart that is
numbed with cold
the dragon takes.
With you at
my side the
dragon sleeps.
On dragon
wing your
wishes will
leap
lalala...
your wishes can
bring forth a destructive future.
lalala...
or you can
bring salvation
In the darkness
The dragon wakes.
The dragon awakens.
To a heart that is
numbed with cold
the dragon takes.
2 'Draconian' is the word they use in the English dubbing of Escaflowne. The literal translation is 'Dragon People'.
Thank you to my lovely beta lucidity. She got this chapter back to me very quickly and I really appreciate her efforts. Thanks so much! huggles
Now, onto my reviewers! Thanks a lot for the reviews!
Mon2: LOL Yeah, poor Draco. He's such a sad sack, isn't he? On the upside, he's not a push over! LOL He's a strong one, I've always thought. Ah, about their wings. Like in this chapter, you've learn about the differences in the Veelan race between both worlds. Like I said in the previous chapter, my take on the HPverse Veelas is that they lean towards a more demonic classification rather than the 'angelic' that the Veelas in Dee's world do. Draco's Veelan heritage allows him certain sensitivities to the magical layers around him as well as strengths in certain types of magic. It'll pop up more in later chapters, no worries. Dee and J.P.'s parents will make an appearance, but that has yet to be written! LOL Don't worry, Draco will know what it feels like to be loved by a parent. Like I said before, Lucius isn't as big a bastard as he seems. LOL Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Depressed Gothic Raven: I'm glad you liked his wings. I too think he'd be very, very hot with wings. fans her face LOL I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Sheree: LOL I like Ron well enough; when his mouth is closed and he's not moving, talking or doing anything. LOL But yeah, I've always wondered why no one really pointed it out. That and I love Draco. LOL Draco acted the same way he would have towards Harry, scar or not and Ron... Well, Ron has a few issues he has to sort through, ne? I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Heart and Soul: I'm glad it left you feeling all fluffy! LOL I do feel a bit sorry for Harry though, cuz he's got a bit of work to do, huh? Hope you enjoyed the update!
Brenna8: I hope you liked this chapter! It wasn't as H/D as I'd have liked, but I coldn't very well make it just happen, right? LOLEmerald Star Blood: Yeah, I've always found demons to be more exciting and interesting than birds. LOL And Draco's too hot to be a bird thing! He's simply too devilish! LOL Hope you liked this chapter!
Anny
Pervert Snape: I'm glad you thought he sounded hot too. I hope
you liked the update!
DemonRogue: Harry, I think, is one of the most clueless people in the series. He's rather... focused, for the lack of a better term. He also tends to see things as black and white. Hope you liked the chapter!
LuthorCorp:
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you thought it was interesting.
It's always ncie to know you're writing something that people
think is different. Hopefully, this chapter was just as interesting.
Kilikapele: LOL Draco is a reluctant pickle, that he is. But then again, I don't blame him. He's always had to be so cautious and in the House that requires a lot of political and social engineering, I'm not surprised he'd rather not have his feelings for Harry known. But Harry will prevail and we'll have some lovely H/D soon! Hope you liked the update!
Lucidity: Yeah, Harry was pretty surprised by them as well, but I think he prefers the bat wings to Dee's feathery appendages. I mean, I know I prefer the bat wings... LOL But then again, I find demons far sexier than angels. At least, fiction wise. ;; Hope you liked the chapter!
Well, that's it from me for another month or so! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter! By the way, the next chapter won't exactly be a chapter, it'll actually be a detailed (sort of) description of my take on magic in both the Hpverse and the AUHPverse. Hopefully, you won't kill me because of it. LOL
Thanks again for reading! RR!
Take care!
DW