Title: Falls the Shadow
Chapter 2
Rating: M
Warnings: H/D Slash
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter! Characters (except those created by us) belong to the amazingly talented J.K. Rowling, WB, and the publishing companies
Sunlight poured into the room as Harry opened his eyes after a long period of sleep. His tear stained cheeks remained as a reminder of what had occurred. He did have pride, but he knew that with Bellatrix hanging in his movement or word, would grasp any opportunity to get him out of her sight.
He shifted in bed and froze as the door was abruptly thrown open an Dobby came rushing into the room.
"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter! Awake sir! You are running late, breakfast started almost an hour ago!
Harry sprung out of bed, and quickly grabbed the clothes Dobby had handed him.
"Mr. Snape will be quite in an ill mood sir, he does not like tardiness. I did not come and wake you sooner since Master Crabbe told me you were out in the grounds, sir."
Harry inwardly cursed, and did not even bother combing his hair, but stepped out of the room and rushed down the stairs.
"Mr. Potter! You need to have some breakfast…it will be quite late before the next meal, sir!"
"No thank you, Dobby. I can manage!" yelled Harry as he ran down the hallway and finally opened the door to the library, as he tried to catch his breath.
"What is this, Mr. Potter?" said Snape icily. "Late, I see. Tsk Tsk what conduct of yours. I believe I explained my rules to you yesterday, but obviously you think the rules are below you and you wish to do as you please, in may I remind you, is not your home."
Harry stayed silent and tried to not say a word, but it just could not be helped. This man was turning out to be one of the worst characters he had ever met.
"Sir, I was asleep and Dobby did not wake me for Mr. Crabbe told him that I was in the grounds. On the other hand, I was in my room."
"Do not drag in another young man into this sorry situation. You need to be awake in the morning, but you are just irresponsible. This conduct should not be dealt with in here. I will take to Lord Malfoy about it."
"But…"
"No more comments out of your mouth, now sit down and write lines. Ah I see you forgot your books too. What a pity."
Harry looked over at Draco, who sat quietly looking at him, but he glanced down when their eyes me. "May I go get them?"
Snape raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me? Where are your manners? Now ask me correctly"
Harry deeply sighed and looked at Snape straight in the eye, "May I go get my books Professor Snape?"
"I think not," said Snape, sitting down on the chair once again.
Harry looked from Snape and Draco, but they did not make a move.
"Do I do my lines…?"
"You have no book."
"What do I then, sir?"
"You leave this room this instant, and you do not come back until Lord Malfoy give you permission. I will speak with him or Bellatrix."
"Not her!" said Harry before he could stop himself.
"Silence young man! You ungrateful child. You are nothing but an insolent brat who is here but some reason unknown to me. The orphanage would have been good for you, it made have humbled you instead of giving you a grandiose air, which you have no right to bear. Leave, what ever are you waiting for? Leave!" cried Snape as the stood up from his chair, and leaned against his desk, his eyes narrowing at Harry.
Harry took some quick breaths and ran out of the room, going past servants, and running past the cries of Dobby. He ran as hard as his legs could carry him, until he was outside, away from everyone.
He cursed his 'tutor' and he cursed Bellatrix, as he continued walking in a slower pace and further away from the manor.
He came up to small creek and sat down in the edge, running his hands down the cool water. He was sick and tired of being put down upon, and it was not even a week in his stay. He was not in the same class as the Malfoy's, but he was not so low in class either. He was treated inferior to all, and although it might be needed, it should not be to the extent he was being treated.
He had no fault in waking up late. Dobby had told him that he would be the one waking him up. Yet all it took for everything to fall apart was the foolishness of a boy his age wanting to torment him and cause him harm.
Where did Draco fit in all of this? He had thought of the boy often, but the boy never seemed to pay any attention to him. He could not do anything about it for the other boy made no inclination to speak for him or even acknowledge him.
He heard a sudden movement behind him, and was on his feet quickly. He looked around but saw no one. He was about to sit down again when a head appeared behind a tree.
"Why, hello there!" said a boy cheerfully, stepping out into the open. He was tall and lanky, with bright red hair, a pale face, and freckles. He seemed friendly and kind, and Harry smiled as the young boy walked towards him.
"Hello, yourself," said Harry.
"I have never seen you in these parts before. Are you new? What is your name?" asked the boy rapidly.
"My name is Harry Potter, and yes I am new in this part."
"Where do you live?"
"I live with Lord and Lady Malfoy."
"Oh," said the boy, scrunching up his nose in what seemed distaste. "I see…well my name is Ronald Weasely, and I live just across from that hill over there," he said pointing to his north.
Ron came up and sat down next to Harry, and started throwing rocks into the creek.
"So what brings you into these parts? Are you on a holiday?"
Harry looked up, then quickly shifted his gaze back down, unsure of what and how to reply. The redhead next to me seemed easy and trustworthy enough. He looked at the water flowing over rocks, smoothing them over as it continued running, letting his mind run away until he was brought back to the present situation.
"It's ok if you don't want to tell me," Ron said, offering him a small smile. Harry smiled back and shook his head.
"No, it's all right. I'm living here now. My parents died when I was too young to know them and I lived with my godfather for a while," Harry said, reclining back onto the grass and staring up into the sky now, arms under his head. "My godfather recently died though… bad accident," Harry continued, trying his best to remain composed and trying to phrase what had happened in as little words as possible. "And well… here I am now, my closest relatives, apparently." Harry let out a sigh once done and continued staring at the sky, trying to force the memories back. He wondered at the silence that surrounded them for a while, listened to the birds and the water sloshing against the rocks, listened to the leafs rustle in the wind until he heard a small cough coming from his right. Turning, he let his eyes land on Ronald, who was now looking at him with a mixture of emotions.
"Well, umm… sorry, Harry. I'm not really good with these situations," Ron said, offering him a small, sympathetic smile. "I guess… everything happens for a reason though, and well, I'm really sorry. I mean, he was probably like a father figure, wasn't he? I really am very sorry, Harry," Ron said and was about to stumble through some words when Harry smiled and saved him.
"It's ok, Ronald. You can't evade fate, can you?" Harry muttered, speaking in a tone that seemed too old for him, too old for his years. Ron merely shrugged and stared back at the stream, picking up rocks and beginning to throw them in, trying to make them skip over the water.
"You can call me Ron, by the way. Almost everyone does. Ronald sounds too… formal," Ron said as Harry sat up from his position. Harry gave a small laugh, almost a snort, and Ron looked at him amused.
"Ron!"
"Oh, Ronny Weaselkins!"
"Where are you dear brother? Don't tell me we've lost you?"
"Oh heavens no! Mum would kill us. Ronsy-poo, where are you?"
Harry looked over at Ron, raising an eyebrow at the already reddening boy next to him.
Ron looked embarrassed and stood up. "Those are my brothers, probably time for me to get home," he said, brushing off his clothing from the leaves and dirt that was on there.
"Brothers?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, Fred and George. I'll introduce you later, they seem to be up to something around now. They like to… scare mum. She calls them troublesome boys and they usually are, setting pranks and everyone for their own amusement, but when its not you it can be quite humorous. Well, come on then, I'll walk you back before heading back," Ron said, looking over at Harry with intense blue eyes.
"Err, well, you don't have to," Harry began saying when Ron stopped him.
"Don't worry, from the gates of Malfoy Manor to my house is about the same distance from the gates to the Manor. We'll both be walking the same distance, and it gets me away from my brothers," he said, wincing as he heard his name said in yet another endearment. "They seem like they might be up to something," he mumbled, eyes narrowing slightly and warily looking at his surroundings.
Harry nodded and stood up, brushing himself up before following Ron up to the gates. Neither of them said a word, both allowed the silence to blanket them, a comfortable silence that only true comradeship could bring.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Ron said, waving slightly as he already made his way back.
Harry nodded. "Sure," he answered, "tomorrow." He watched the boy leave, feeling altogether better and possibly even feeling the first bit of joy since the death of his godfather.
xx
Draco watched as the redhead walked away as well, but with an altogether different feeling in him. He wasn't sure what to name it, wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was he hadn't felt it before.
He watched as the black haired boy made his way back up towards the manor after the redhead was out of sight and decided that it would be better to talk now rather than later and warn the boy of the risk he was putting himself in. After all, Draco did possess a heart.
Draco drew nearer to the other boy, watched the slim, pale figure walk with what he could notice was a lighter step, rather than the depressing, heavy walk he had been sporting for the past few days. He watched as the ebony black hair moved over his head, styled rather ruefully but fitting him. Come to think of it, Draco didn't think he could imagine the boy with a proper hair do.
Harry walked away from the gate, his eyes on the ground a few steps ahead of him. His mind was wandering around, gathering in the details of what had happened, cherishing the new friendship he had been able to make, radiating with the thought of not being alone anymore when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He froze.
'Harry, wasn't it?' Draco thought, debating on whether to call the boy or not. He did not have to debate far too long on the matter, though, once he saw that the other boy had stopped walking and saw a chill make its way down the wiry figure.
Harry turned slowly, afraid of what he was going to see but unable to do anything but turn around and watch the figure. He slowly turned, first looking at the hooves, then slowly at the towering mass before him, snorting the air, chortling and stomping impatiently as the rider stared down at him.
Harry shivered, shivered with fear and cold. A sudden feeling of desperation had entered his heart, images were replaying in his head, and he was not sure he was ready to deal with it all. He did not want to deal with it all. He wanted to forget, wanted to have those damned bloody beasts as far away as possible from him. He pulled as much self control as he could, tried to pull himself together but found himself unable to do so. There was nothing between him and the horse. There was nothing between the beast and himself. He shivered again, unable to control himself, clenched his fists and tried to discipline himself into composure. He slowly lifted his eyes, making sure not to meet those of the animal – he was sure his composure would break if he did – and so instead looked up at the owner of the beast and felt his throat constrict.
Grey eyes met green. Green eyes met grey. Grey eyes felt uncomfortable and looked away, broke the eye contact that had been made and instead, looked at the animal, looked at the hair, looked at anything except at the green eyes. The green eyes looked on in disappointment, though still not entirely comfortable and trying his hardest to ignore the snorting beast.
"It would be better if you did not spend your time with people like him," Draco said in a cool, crisp voice. "Unless you want to find yourself in deeper discontent with my father and mother, as well as my aunt."
Harry stared at him, thoughts running through his mind as he tried to organize everything, put everything together. His green eyes made contact with the grey and this time it was he who looked down, who shifted his gaze to Draco's overall face instead. "Why would they care?" he answered. "Who I make friends with isn't any of there concern."
Draco shrugged. "Suit yourself, but he is not of our class and therefore would greatly disappoint everyone. Make friends with someone more suitable and you might actually be seen in favorable eyes."
Harry glanced at him once more before quickly retreating. "If that was all," Harry mumbled, "I'll take my leave now."
"Harry," Draco said, his voice still in a drawl, though the fact that his name had even been uttered stopped Harry from leaving yet. "Rethink your decisions. As it is, not many find you pleasant."
"What do you want me to do then?" Harry asked, letting his anger get the better of him and glaring up defiantly into Draco's eyes. "I can't bloody go join you and your acquaintances. They look like they would rather amuse themselves with me rather than join me. Who else do I have then, Draco? Any person counts for me, no matter class or position. And aren't I in a lower rank as well?"
"Not that low," Draco answered once he regained his shock and followed his answer with only a shrug.
Harry turned around and walked back towards the house, made his way away from the horse that he had now forgotten with an insatiable urge to cry, the joy now gone from his heart with the fear of losing, once again, something that had become important.
He heard the hooves walk closely behind him and fought the urge to run, to run away from the beast that he was now made to remember again. He felt it touch him, felt it brush past him, saw the eyes, saw the images come back, felt fear grip him, felt an amount of emotions he could not organize surge through him, and saw darkness.
Draco got off his horse quickly, got on his knees by Harry's side, felt his pulse, made sure he was alive, pulled the horse with him and called for help.
Harry woke up much later, well-rested, late for dinner but excused, instances of what had happened coming back into his brain and making him feel ashamed of how weak he must have looked, of how weak he must now be viewed, having a fainting spell. Even the sun and the heat could not be blamed for the sudden darkness that had encompassed him and so he fell again into tears, forgetting the good and remembering only the bad, as is often the way when one cries, and slowly fell asleep once again, completely disregarding the hunger in his stomach as he succumbed to the darkness once again.
A/N: Again, sorry for lateness, but this story will not be abandoned! So have no fear : ) . Hehe, other than that, will try to get Chapter 3 up as soon as possible (sooner than Chapter 2 was updated if possible)! I fear the styles changed a bit (blame Ernest Hemingway, in a way) but hopefully nothing too drastic. Hope we don't have too many mistakes, hope it's good, hope it wasn't too rushed, we're starting to see things, hehe… ooh… ok, maybe not, but they'll be here soon! Haha, laters.