Thanks for all the reviews :) -is happyful-
On with it!
The next day was the Quidditch match against Slytherin. Harry was shaking with anticipation. It had been so long since he'd played a real game of Quidditch. Shouts of good luck were thrown at him from every table. (Except Slytherin of course) and for once, Harry accepted the praise, flashing smiles at everyone and making more than a few girls blush brightly. He sat down by Ron and Hermione. Ron was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"What's got you so happy?" Harry joked.
"Excitement!" Ron said, grinning. There was fierce determination in his eyes. "We'll win this one Harry! I just know it!"
Half an hour into the match, Harry was watching the match more than anything. He couldn't see the snitch anywhere, and was focusing for a brief moment on the game. Ron was a lot better this year. He hadn't let a single goal in, and Gryffindor was leading, 40-0. Harry heard a whistling sound and only just managed to dodge a bludger in time. He shot a dirty look at the offending beater and resumed his search for the snitch.
Draco was hovering a short distance above Harry. His eyes were focussed entirely on the Gryffindor seeker, watching every move he made. Suddenly, Harry looked up at him.
"Eyes on the game Malfoy, not on me." Harry grinned, flying away. Draco flushed and scowled. He set his eyes back to looking for the snitch as well. Harry scouted around for a while before he saw a glimmer of gold. His heart leapt and he flew straight for it. Draco saw the movement and flew straight at Harry. He wasn't going to let him win this! He tailed Harry for a while before catching up with him and ramming into his left side. "Malfoy!" Harry snapped, ramming him back. It caught Draco off guard and the Slytherin was thrown away just long enough for Harry's fingers to clasp around the snitch.
"GRYFFINDOR WIN!" the students erupted into applause. Harry grinned, lifting up the snitch. He looked around at the pitch to grin at Ron. What he saw made his heart stop. Ron was plummeting to earth with extraordinary speed. He looked like he was out cold. Harry cried out in fright and leapt off his broom without thinking. Suddenly his shoulder blades and tail bone erupted with pain, and an intense burning light enveloped him, but he didn't care. He just had to get to Ron!
There was a collective gasp from the onlookers as Harry seemed to burst into flames. Draco's eyes widened as Harry sprouted angelic wings and a long black tail. His hands seemed to get longer, but just before they made a grab for Ron, Draco saw that they were actually the talon like claws of a fully grown Incandeche.
Harry swooped down and picked Ron out of the air, stopping in mid dive, his wings flapping to regain control of their downward spiral towards earth. Harry suddenly blinked. '…wings?' he looked behind him to see glittering silver-feathered wings. He shifted Ron in his arms and stared at his left hand. His finger nails had grown and now were about 2 inches long, sharp enough to kill. He looked back at Ron and saw him grinning. Harry frowned. Then realisation hit him hard.
"You…you planned this!"
"Yep!" Ron said, grinning broader. "Pretty cool stunt huh?"
"How did you know I would transform in time!"
"Aww I knew you would coz you love me so much!" Ron joked, punching him in the shoulder. Harry snorted.
"I've a good mind to let you fall."
Draco, along with everyone from both Quidditch teams flew towards Harry to get a better look at him. Draco was first to get there. He heard the last snatch of conversation.
"Aww I knew you would coz you love me so much!" Draco's heart stopped.
"I've a good mind to let you fall." Harry said, grinning. Draco backed away, his heart taking a journey to the ground thirty feet below him.
"Here." Katie handed Ron his broom and the Gryffindor got back on it, grinning his head off.
"Still, I got you to transform Harry!"
"Yes." Everyone turned to see Madame Hooch on her own broom, looking very wary. "Potter, the headmaster wants to see you. Now." Harry mentally gulped. He swooped down, marvelling at how natural it felt to use his new wings. The claws didn't feel as much of a nuisance as he thought they would either, and the tail felt like he'd had it all along. As he landed, he noticed just how many people were staring at him. Some were gazing adoringly at him. Some were pointing at his wings and smiling at him, giving him jealous looks. But others were very scared. One in every 15 was looking totally petrified. Harry frowned, walked towards Dumbledore.
"Harry, I know you must seem thrilled to have this new ability…" Dumbledore was sitting in his chair, looking over to Harry, who was attempting to sit down without buckling his wings. The headmaster's eyes were twinkling. "But you must understand that you are not a common occurrence at Hogwarts. Some people will be frightened of you."
"Don't worry Sir, I wont hurt anyone."
"I know. It's not in your nature. But others don't know. They might be harsh in their judgement of you. So be careful."
"I will." Dumbledore nodded. "Um…Sir? How do I…un-transform?" he smiled, glancing at Harry's wings, claws and tail.
"You 'un-transform' whenever you feel like it, Harry. And you obviously don't feel like it." He said, giving him a knowing look. Harry grinned sheepishly.
"Well…I like the wings and tail…but it'll be a bit hard to write with claws…what the!" his claws disappeared. Dumbledore smiled.
"One of the Incandeche's special features is that it can control which parts of it's true self it wishes to hide. Apart from the wings of course. If an Incandeche body wants to have wings, it simply will. But with the tail and claws, you are given a choice." Harry grinned.
"This is really cool."
"Yes. But remember. Don't abuse your gifts."
"Abuse?"
"Use them for the wrong reasons. Such as attacking anyone, not that you would, or flying off in the middle of class, or scaring people who are annoying you…" Harry snickered. He could just imagine that group of Slytherins who had hurt Malfoy running for their lives from a lightning bolt.
"I won't Sir." Harry said.
"And…not even when you're angry." Harry frowned.
"Can I go now?" Dumbledore nodded. Harry turned and walked out of the door, his heart soaring through the skies in anticipation of flying without a broom again.
Fortunately, he didn't meet anyone on his way back to the Gryffindor tower. That is, until he rounded a corner and walked straight into Draco Malfoy. Harry was about to snap at him when he realised who it was. He grinned.
"Look Malfoy! I did it!" he said, stretching out his wings until they reached to both sides of the deserted corridor.
"Yippee for you." Draco muttered, pushing past him. Harry frowned.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"I heard him!" Draco burst out, glaring at Harry. Harry looked shocked.
"Who?"
"The Weasel boy! I heard him!" Draco's eyes were full of anger, hate, but especially pain. "ohh I knew you'd catch me because you love me so much!" Draco's voice was high and scathing. "I heard him!" Harry blinked, before chuckling.
"He was joking you moron!" Draco's eyes narrowed.
"The hell he was!"
"He was! For god's sake, he fancies Hermione! He's not gay! And he's my best friend! He's just about the last person I'd ever fancy!" Draco stopped his ranting.
"…oh…" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Just how you can get jealous over Ron of all people is beyond me."
"I wasn't jealous!"
"Che. Yeah right Malfoy." Harry turned away from him, away from the direction of the common room, and towards the Entrance Hall.
"I wasn't!" Draco persisted, following him. "You stuck up, arrogant, time wasting show off!" Harry just snorted.
"I'm not the one wasting time. You're the one staring at me all the time like the world would end if you stopped. If you'd paid more attention to the game today instead of me, then you might've won." Draco flushed.
"Look, I was just checking to see if you'd seen the snitch!"
"You're not fooling anyone Malfoy." Draco glowered at Harry's back. They were still walking, and were nearly outside.
"How can you be like this towards me! If it weren't for me, you'd still be sobbing in your room, afraid of 's' words and totally oblivious to the fact that Incandeche even existed!" Harry turned around and smirked.
"You're right. I have a lot to thank you for." Draco didn't trust the glint in Harry's eyes. "Come fly with me." Before Draco had had time to process what had been said, Harry had wrapped his arms around Draco's waist, and was taking off into the skies. Draco yelped in surprised and had to suppress a scream of terror as Harry went straight up through the clouds. But he didn't stop there. Harry did a loop back through the clouds, flying at break-neck speeds over the Hogwarts grounds. Draco couldn't see much, but the feeling was amazing. And he was so close to Harry he could smell him. Draco's heart was going twice as fast as Harry's wings. But he still didn't dare look at how high up they were. He was so scared that Harry would suddenly drop him.
Finally, Harry ascended up through the clouds again, and stopped. He looked down at the quivering form that was Draco Malfoy and chuckled.
"Look up; you're missing the greatest view in the world."
"You'll drop me!"
"I won't drop you." Harry said softly. Draco slowly opened his eyes, looking over Harry's shoulder at the vast cloud landscape. His eyes went wide. The early evening had tinted the clouds pink and purple. The clouds seemed to stretch on forever, giving the whole scene a very mystifying and romantic look. The first stars were showing on the horizon, and up above them. Draco realised his arms were around Harry's neck, and the Gryffindor's arms were still around his waist. He blushed vibrantly, glad that Harry couldn't see him. "Are you looking?" Harry asked.
"Y,yes. Very picturesque Potter…" he loosened the grip around Harry's neck so that he could look at him. "Why did you bring me up here?" he asked. The distance (or lack of it) between them was making Draco very uncomfortable. He didn't know how long he could keep his hands off Harry. Harry shrugged.
"I thought you'd enjoy it."
"A lot of people would enjoy this experience. Why me?" Harry shrugged again.
"Like I said. I have a lot to thank you for." Draco leaned closer to Harry.
"Do you still hate me?" Harry's expression became thoughtful.
"I don't hate anyone anymore. I think my Incandeche half is screwing with my mind."
"Would you hate me if I did this?" Draco asked, before pressing his lips firmly to Harry's. He ran his hands through Harry's hair, pulling him closer and moaning into the kiss. Then, he was shocked to see that Harry was responding to it. The Gryffindor parted his lips to let Draco's tongue explore whilst sliding a hand under Draco's shirt, running his hand up his bare back, causing the Slytherin to shudder. He kept one hand firmly around Draco's waist to stop him from falling. Draco pulled away, breathless. He gazed into Harry's eyes. He saw confusion, shock, and what was undeniably affection. Draco sighed, wrapping his arms back around Harry's neck, content to watch the clouds and listen to the flutter of Harry's wings whilst the Incandeche ran his hand over his back in soothing patterns.
"I can't believe this is happening. I've waited so long for this…well not the being up in the air part but that's nice but I mean you finally accepting me…"
"Shhhh." Harry muttered, stopping Draco's rambling.
"Harry…are we…I mean…do you want…" Harry's hand ceased its movements, retreating away. Draco looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"Ma…Draco I cant let people know about this. I'd lose all my friends…I can't lose them. But…what about after school?" Draco's heart sank he'd have to wait until after they left Hogwarts…because Harry was ashamed of him.
"No." Draco said firmly. "Either you have me now, or never. I'm not hiding the fact that I fancy you from the world. I've been beaten up for it ever since, but I don't care. You should feel the same." Harry looked away from him. "And if you don't feel the same…just let me fall." Harry looked taken aback.
"What?" Draco pushed away from him, plummeting towards earth. Harry yelped in surprise, diving down under the clouds and grabbing Draco, pulling him close. "Fuck it Malfoy don't you ever do that again!" Harry snapped, hugging him protectively. They slowly descended in silence. When they reached the ground, Draco pulled away again.
"Well?" Harry looked at him nervously.
"I can't…"
"Then you should have let me fall." Draco snapped, turning and stalking away. Harry sighed, walking the other way.
He didn't know what had come over him. Then a conversation replayed itself in his mind.
'The person either loves you, or hates you. And you either love them or hate them back.'
Harry closed his eyes. He'd never been this confused before.
mwahahaaaaaaaa
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