The Bodyguard

Chapter 3: Hand In Hand

Harry and Draco glanced at each other in horror. There was a dark, seemingly little-used side branch on their left and they slipped into it without a sound, hurrying along until a corner hid them from view. They pressed their backs against the wall.

Draco squeezed his eyes shut, and tipped his face up as if in silent prayer, much the same as he had when Hermione had put her wand to his throat several years before.

The footsteps grew louder, until they were right beside Harry and Draco's corridor.

"This must go to plan, Amycus" came Voldemort's cold voice. "Harry Potter must die. I tire of the incompetence my Death Eaters have shown."

"You needn't worry, my Lord," Amycus wheezed. "Young Draco is guarding the prisoner as we speak."

"He'd better be," said Voldemort, his voice curt and merciless. "If he fails me tonight, he'll go the way of his precious mother."

Draco turned his head towards Harry with a look of hopeless despair. I'm dead, he mouthed silently.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't speak. All he could do was reach down and give Draco's hand a reassuring squeeze. Draco squeezed back like a drowning man grasping a lifeboat.

The footsteps and Voldemort's cold voice faded into the distance. Harry caught his breath in relief. He tugged on Draco's hand and they both peeked around the corner. There was no one there. Cautiously, they walked back to the main tunnel, still hand in hand.

They had only gone a few steps when Draco looked suspicious, and drew his wand. He flicked it, apparently testing the air.

"What are you doing?" whispered Harry. The tunnel seemed empty, but Draco was acting as though they were walking into a trap.

"There's a magical barrier nearby," said Draco, taking slow, cautious steps forward. His wand quivered. "Stop. I've found it."

Harry froze. Something was making the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Instinctively, he knew Draco was right. "What kind of barrier?"

Draco's wand flicked again. Harry saw his shoulders slump in despair. "A Dark Mark barrier."

"A what?"

"Only those with Dark Marks can pass through, Harry." Draco swore, very softly. "Amycus placed this, I can feel it."

Harry remembered how the Order of the Phoenix had dealt with the barrier up on the Astronomy Tower that had only let Death Eaters pass through. "We'll have to smash down the walls around the-"

"No!" Draco interrupted. "Typical that you'd think of the brute force method, Harry," he added, with the trace of a sneer. "If you smash the walls, you may as well shout out 'Harry Potter is escaping!' The Death Eaters will come running."

Harry thought hard. "Can you deactivate the barrier?"

"Yes, but the only reason anyone would take it down is to let someone without a Dark Mark through, and the only person here without one is YOU!"

"Then how-"

"Let me think, Harry," whispered Draco firmly.

Harry waited. Every instinct shouted at him to smash down the barrier and make a run for it, but somehow he couldn't move. There was something fascinating about Draco's thoughtful face, and the strange glitter in his pale eyes.

It could only have been a few moments later, but it felt like several days, when the corners of Draco's lips twitched. "I've got an idea. Pull your left sleeve down."

Harry fumbled with his sleeve, but not fast enough for Draco, who reached out with both hands and helped him. His fingers brushed Harry's skin and the Gryffindor shivered as an unexpected tingle ran through his body.

Draco noticed. "What?" he asked.

"Your hands are cold," said Harry, wondering why he was blushing.

Frowning slightly, but saying nothing, Draco yanked down his own sleeve and pressed his forearm tightly against Harry's, before Harry had a chance to see his Mark.

Warm skin met warm skin, and Harry actually jumped slightly at the touch, and pulled back. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to fool the barrier," whispered Draco impatiently. "It looks for a Dark Mark on the left arm. If we press our left arms together, my Dark Mark might be enough for both of us."

At the thought of touching a Dark Mark, Harry shuddered in disgust, and felt his blush fade. So Draco was Marked? That vindicated all of his Sixth Year suspicions. With an effort, he turned his mind back to the issue at hand. "I don't know much about barriers, but it could work," he admitted, offering his left arm. Draco entwined their fingers and pressed their forearms tightly together. Then he drew Harry towards the invisible barrier.

It was a tense moment. Harry waited for the barrier to activate, to reject him. They took step after step. Harry gritted his teeth.

Then Draco whispered, "It worked. We're through."

Somehow, Harry couldn't bring himself to release Draco's hand. Still hidden under the cloak, they walked until Harry could see a rusty, barred door, with two masked Death Eaters on either side.

This is it, Draco mouthed.

Leads outside? Harry mouthed back.

Draco nodded.

I'll take the one on the left, you the one on the right. Silent spells, Harry mouthed.

Draco rolled his eyes a little, as if to say, 'What else?'

Harry nodded and raised his wand.

Moments later they were running through deserted London streets filled with derelict buildings, still hand in hand under the cloak. The smell of fresh night air hit Harry and he almost shouted aloud with joy. They ran until they could run no further and then they stopped, bent almost double with their hands on their knees, gasping for breath.

The cloak began to slip. Draco grabbed at it. "We can't stop here," he whispered frantically. "It's not safe. We have to Apparate-" A movement caught his eye, "Oh no! Protego!"

"Stupefy!" came a shout and to Harry's horror, Draco slumped against him, unconscious. A brilliant rain of spells bounced off the shield spell Draco had cast around Harry, but not himself. The cloak slid to the ground entirely. Harry raised his own shield spell - too late for Draco - and stared around at the darkness, holding up his rescuer's limp form with one arm.

oOoOoOo

Author's Notes: You'd better review, or I'll make sure Harry and Draco suffer! Bwahahaha! ;-)

Replies to the comments so far:

T.Felton: I'm glad you like the story. I will be continuing it and I'll update soon.

NinjaoftheDarkness: As you can see, they did get out of the Death Eater den, but it's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire for Draco and Harry.

SuperSquash: I'm interested in how the Order of the Phoenix will react to Draco too. Dumbledore would have trusted him, I'm sure, and Harry will carry on Dumbledore's legacy of trust. But Harry, sadly, is not a high-ranking Order member due to his age. Draco angst is guaranteed!

Ann: Thanks! Once I get going with writing, I tend to produce a lot all at once so quick updates can be expected. The fact that the NaNoWriMo is on also helps.

Potter's Wifey: Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

Diane23: Thanks! I do respect the HP books and I'm trying to show it by sticking to the JKR convention of writing from Harry's rather blinkered and clueless teenage boy point of view. I'm relying on the readers to spot angst and conniving manipulative Slytherin behaviour from Draco, that Harry doesn't even notice!

Demonic Reivun: High praise. Thank you very much!

Rinkurocks: LOL! It's strange to think that the mere act of spelling and grammar checking a fanfic is a rare and impressive feat! I hope I can keep Draco in character for you. How would you describe Draco's character?

Miko23: Thank you! Wuv u 2!