THE ELF PRINCE'S MATE
AUTHOR: fantasylover12001
RATING: R
DISCLAIMER: I don't own HP. Something I've got to work on...
SUMMARY: Draco starts to get ready to leave but an attack on the village stops him just in time...
PAIRING: Draco/Harry
AUTHOR NOTES: Okay, next week I won't be updating till Monday due to the well earned vacation I'll be on next week. College is exhausting for anyone who wants to know why it's well earned. Sorry, but you'll get a chapter faster after that so that's good, right? I would also like to say that I have never broken my leg or arm before so I don't know if the time frame I gave for Draco's injuries (about four months) is correct. If it isn't I'd like to mention Elves in this story heal faster then humans ;twiddles thumbs innocently;.
Skeet: ;twiddles thumbs innocently; I never said I would ACTUALLY split them up. The reason for the war will be explained soon.
FlamencoPenguin: Thanks, I love long reviews. Ron and Hermione will be showing up soon.
redfox13: two more weeks? Wow, that's really late, but then this is kind of early for my school.
Phorcys: ;grins; I was sort of watching Return of the King when I wrote that part...
CHAPTER 3: THE HORN SOUNDS
It was around late April that Draco's leg started to heal well enough to walk slowly without crutches. His arm was now completely healed and he could help Harry with some tasks such as lifting dishes and such which made him feel a bit better about things. Harry still refused to let him lift any heavy things however or help him lift them. One thing Draco had quickly found out about Harry was that he was stubborn. It was quite frustrating at times.
But now, lying in the bed next to his mate, Draco found he could care less. Sleeping next to Harry was wonderful and torture at the same time. He often faked sleep when Harry woke so he didn't cause the man embarrassment by showing that he knew they often ended up entertained or curled up around each other at night.
This morning he was awake before Harry again. His mate was pressed against his side with one arm thrown around his waist and his head buried in the junction between Draco's neck and shoulder. The other man's silky hair tickled his nose as he happily breathed in Harry's scent. He loved that scent, it was just so intoxicating. It was a mixture of fresh grass, cool water, and woods.
But he couldn't stay forever. No matter how much he might want too. The elves were at war, he had to get back home and let his mother and father know he was all right. They were most likely worried sick. While elves could live forever, they could be killed just as easily as humans so who knew what horrors they were imagining were happening to him.
Draco glanced down at Harry and smirked a little. His mother would probably be furious when she found out she did all that worrying for nothing and instead of lying in a ditch somewhere, Draco had been happily staying with his mate all this time. But she would get over it and happily start making wedding plans for the two of them and order doting gifts for the heir he was sure to produce with Harry. Whenever they got that far anyway. It was a good thing elves could impregnate anyone or anything, that was why there were a lot of half-elves running around. Sometimes elves mates turned out to be human like Harry or another human like creature.
'You're getting ahead of yourself, Draco' he scolded himself silently as Harry shifted and burrowed further into him. 'First you have to win this war, tell Harry he's your mate, and get him to accept you and court him. THEN you can start thinking about producing babies.'
The blonde felt Harry start to stir and went about his act of pretending to be asleep.
dmHPdm
Seamus Finnigan had known Harry Potter since the two of them were five years old. They had gotten into all sorts of scrapes together and the village of Surrey had learned to watch out for them in case of trouble. As they got older they got into less scrapes but still spent much time together. It was a strange coincidence that they both turned out to like guys though neither felt an attraction for the other. Seamus had fallen for an African boy named Dean who had moved into the village a few years ago with his family. They were in a secret relationship because while, their village was remarkably tolerant of some things, they weren't sure how they would react to an interracial relationship between the two of them.
Harry knew of it and kept their secret, teasing Seamus about turning into a right sap when he spoke about Dean. While he was courting Dean, Harry had stayed single. He had flirted with a guy and girl here and there but nothing ever came of it. When asked about why, Harry would just shrug with a bewildered look on his face and say, "I don't know. They just don't seem...right for me, I guess."
Personally, Seamus thought Harry had been too picky. Sure Cedric Diggory was a bit dull at times, but he was handsome and polite and sweet. But Harry just remained friends with the bloke, even though Diggory had made it clear he wouldn't have minded more then friendship.
Then this elf came along and suddenly everything changed.
Harry changed.
His normally quiet and reserved friend was now bursting with smiles all the time whenever he came to work or visited Seamus when he bartended at the Leaky Cauldron inn. Whenever he talked lately, it was always 'Draco this, or Draco that, or Draco said the funniest thing today' He may have only met the elf a handful of times when he came to visit Harry but he heard enough about him to know pretty much everything about the blonde.
Looking at his friend now as he entered the inn and waved at Seamus, he realized what had changed about Harry: he was genuinely happy. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd say Harry was in love. He was also pretty sure that it wasn't Cedric Diggory Harry was in love with.
"Oi, Harry, what are you grinning like a loon about?" he asked his friend when he got to the bar stool.
Harry just shrugged. "I didn't realize I was grinning like a loon."
Seamus smirked. "Well, you are and please stop it, you'll scare the customers."
He quickly dodged the peanuts Harry threw at him and grinned to himself. It was nice seeing his friend like this. If anyone deserved an ounce of happiness it was Harry. Though he didn't say it, Seamus sometimes got the impression that he was rather lonely at his house sometimes.
He just hoped this elf didn't end up breaking Harry's heart if he left.
dmHPdm
By the first week of May, Draco found that he could walk and ride Nimbus freely. Much as he detested the thought, it was time to leave.
Nimbus clearly did not like this any better then he did. The stallion had grown comfortable here. Harry was always cooing at him and feeding him sugar lumps when he could and the blonde almost always found the stallion laying next to Firebolt in the barn when he went to check on him. The black stallion snorted in protest when Draco walked around the barn, gathering up the riding tack he'd managed to salvage and readying it for when he would leave in the morning.
When Nimbus pranced away from him as he tried to groom the horse Draco finally threw down the brush and burst out, "Look, I don't want to leave either! But I have too, all right!"
"You're leaving?" a familiar voice said behind him. Draco whirled around and winced when he saw Harry standing there.
"Yes, I am. Tomorrow morning, in fact."
"Oh," his mate said quietly. Then he turned and walked quickly into the house. Draco watched him go, his bond screaming at him to go over and comfort his mate. But there was nothing he could say to make this better. No matter how much he wanted to.
dmHPdm
Dinner that night had been miserable. Harry picked at his meal and Draco spent the time trying desperately to think of a way to drive the sadness from his mates eyes. He couldn't come up with anything. Oh, he could tell Harry that he would come back and visit, but he wasn't even sure if he would survive this war. Telling him about the bond now was out of the question. It was much too dangerous for Harry to know now.
As they got settled into bed for the night Harry finally asked, "Will I ever see you again?"
Draco glanced down at him and swallowed at the pleading green eyes. Unable to lie to his mate he whispered, "I don't know if I'll survive the war, Harry. But if I do, then yes, I can guarantee that you will see me again."
Harry stared at him as if searching for something and then nodded. He was taken aback however when arms came around him and a face buried itself into his neck. Draco didn't mind though, it was as comforting to him as it was to Harry.
dmHPdm
When he woke up the next morning Harry was all ready gone. Nimbus was sulking in the barn because Firebolt was gone and Hedwig hooted reproachfully at him from the rafters of the barn as he entered. He sighed as she gazed at him. How was it that an owl had the ability to make him feel like complete scum just by looking at him?
With a sigh, he brought out Nimbus to the clearing and took one look around the place that had been his home for the past months. Now in the springtime the place didn't look as dismal as it had when he first arrived. Green grass grew all around the property. Harry's vegetable garden was in full swing and the blonde knew from experience that the vegetables were delicious. Wind chimes tingled from the porch and the bird feeder that he had helped Harry make a month ago was currently being used by several starlings. It looked homey and Draco couldn't help but feel proud of his mate and the life he had built for himself despite the odds against him.
Did he really have any right to take Harry away from this life?
Before he could think about the answer to that a loud horn sounded from the distance and Draco froze when he heard it.
"No," he whispered softly and turned around. That horn was the sound Lord Voldemort's followers always used before they attacked a village. It was only recently that they had started to attack human villages as well as elf ones. But usually they only attacked well known towns and cities not tiny villages like Surrey that had no significance
When he looked in the direction of Surrey his heart stopped. There in the sky floated the mark of Lord Voldemort: a snake crawling out of a skull. That meant that they were attacking this very minute.
Draco wasted no time and swung onto Nimbus and ordered him into a gallop in the direction of the village.
War be damned, his parents be damned, and his duties be damned. He was going to protect his mate.
AUTHOR NOTES: yes, yes. I know, I'm cruel for leaving it there. I just couldn't resist. The update will come on Sunday or Monday of next week. I can tell you that Harry will not die. Come on this is me we're talking about; you don't really think I'd do that do you?