( Fading With The Sun )

They showed him the tree first, because it felt like the right thing to do. Draco watched, in a confused daze that made him blink and stumble at times, as they walked along and around him. He felt disconnected as they laughed and smiled, the sound and their expressions not registering in mind.

'Hey, you!' the red-haired girl called Ginny yelled from atop a collection of thick roots of a tree. 'Look-'

'His name is Draco!' interrupted an exasperated, but nevertheless amused voice.

Ginny slipped down onto a lower root. 'Yeah, that one - thanks, Hermione!' She sat down, swinging her legs back and forth excitedly. 'It's just here, blondie-'

'Draco!'

A wide grin filled Ginny's face. 'Okay, okay – I get it, 'Mione.' She pointed to a small hole beneath her, in-between the tangled roots, whispering conspiratorially, 'It's here, our secret base, Mister Blondie.'

Draco found himself smiling, not really sure why. He put it down to facing her enthusiasm and energy. He felt a warm touch on his palm and instantly tensed, nearly jerking away from it before a hand clasped his own. His eyes darted to the person at his side, then relaxed when he saw Harry. The boy was smiling at him again.

'Hey, come on,' he said in his quietly content voice. 'You'll get lost if you don't follow us.'

Draco glanced back at the base of the tree, noticing the girl Hermione disappearing into the roots – her back, then pale legs and bare, dirty feet. He nodded, letting himself be lead forward by a gentle, worn hand.

They navigated their way through the maze of roots, jumping and climbing and balancing. When Draco stubbed his toe at one point, Harry chuckled at the choice swear words that shot out of the blond's mouth as he hopped around, a frown of pain and frustration on his face. When he had mustered his dignity once more, he saw Harry beckon him forward to the entrance Ginny had revealed.

'Now, this is a secret,' Harry said in an attempt at seriousness – but he broke into a grin a moment later. He shrugged a shoulder, looking down. 'Well, as if there were anyone to tell . . .'

'What do you mean?' Draco asked, crouching down next to him. He frowned when Harry didn't look at him. 'Aren't there others?'

'Nope,' Harry replied, avoiding his eyes. He sounded like he didn't know what he was supposed to feel about it. 'We're the only ones. We've searched for miles, but found nothing – no signs of anything. Just forest. Just nature.' He shrugged a shoulder. 'In the end, we came back home – back here. No point in trying to find something that doesn't exist, right?'

Draco said nothing, and Harry didn't wait for an answer. The blond followed the boy down the hole, crawling in the beginning, before it widened in both width and height till they could almost stand. Patches of sunset orange light flooded in through the network of roots, lighting the small, rounded room that was half under the tree, half dug out underground. Covering the floor was dry grass that crunched under their feet, yellow and flattened.

Around a flat stone covered with berries and fruit, sat Ron and Hermione. They were talking and eating, together with Ginny, who was busying herself with collecting an armful of twigs and branches from a pile in a corner.

'We light fires outside, up on the hill,' Harry supplied, then gestured to a heap of fresh grass. 'And that is our glorious bedding.' He smiled a little awkwardly. 'It's not much, I know, but it's the best we could do.'

Draco looked around, then, without his expression changing, he said, 'It's adequate.'

One of Harry's eyebrows rose. 'Adequate?' he shrugged. 'I guess. Certainly better than nothing at all.'

When the sat down, next to the others, Ginny piped up, 'So, Draco, what do you think of our humble abode?'

'It's humble,' he answered, taking a bunch of berries Harry offered. He plucked them off their stalks and popped them into his mouth, nearly jumping when a hand clapped him on the back suddenly.

'Ha, well, at least he's honest!' Ron said with jovial amusement, before he returned to the conversation he was having with Hermione.

'I was being polite,' Draco muttered sullenly. The only one to hear was Harry and he chuckled behind a hand, nearly choking on a piece of fruit in doing so.

'Hey, do you guys want to join us in night-time tree climbing? Ginny found this fantastic tree yesterday,' Hermione said, her look expectant as she got up into a crouch. Her clothes were worn, dirty with mud and soil in places and the material over her knees and elbows were thin and fraying.

Draco felt a pair of eyes on him and turned to Harry, who had a strange expression on his face. After a moment, the green-eyed boy shook his head and gave Hermione an apologetic smile. 'I think we'll pass. Draco's only just arrived and most probably tired. I'll keep him company.'

An urge to protest crept onto Draco's tongue. He frowned, not sure why his whole body wanted him to – there were no reasons to say no to Harry's company. Why would he not want it? He certainly had no desire to be alone. He wasn't sure how'd he react to being alone when nothing in his head made sense anymore.

'Okay, I'll see you guys later!' Harry called out as the three of them crawled out into the night. He heard their excited voices and laughter, listening to it, as it got softer and softer, till there was nothing left but silence.

Behind him, he heard movement. Draco turned and watched Harry as he knelt down and started to spread grass around in the far corner of the room. He sat down in the middle of his creation, cross-legged and sporting a few grass blades in his dark, messy hair.

'Are you hungry?' Harry asked.

Draco shook his head.

'Tired?'

The blond stilled, then said, 'A little.'

'Then come here,' Harry said with a small smile. He patted the grassy ground next to him. 'It's bedtime for us two.'

Draco hovered in hesitation, fingers twitching, foot raised slightly in preparation for movement, in the midst of a feeling of being torn. He pushed his indecision aside and moved over to the boy. Harry lay down on his side, eyes closed, his arm acting as a pillow. Draco stared down at him, then shifted away, his back to the boy, curling into himself for warmth. A sigh sounded behind him, and Draco stiffened when he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him.

'It gets cold at night,' he heard Harry whisper. He could feel the boy's forehead rest against his nape, an almost feverish warmth. 'And we make do with what we got. Human blankets are very effective, I'll let you know. That is, if you don't mind a few frozen feet now and then.'

Draco couldn't help but chuckle. He lifted his head and glanced back at Harry. The boy's hair had fallen to the side, parting to show his forehead. The tiny half-smile that had unwittingly come onto Draco's face faded at the sight of a scar – a lightning bolt shaped scar. Draco laid his head down again, snuggling into the crook of his arm to get comfortable. He had a deep, nearly overwhelming feeling of remembrance, of knowledge, of understanding. It felt like it was of the very tip of his tongue.

But the feeling faded away, like a retreating wave.

Sleep took him then.