Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and or movies is not mine.

A/N: I'm glad so many people like this story. I had my doubts - I really did. But now I think that a lot of people will enjoy it. Around fourty people are reading this, and the feedback is amazing.

Well, since it's almost the weekend, I may update a few more times before Monday. Or by Monday... maybe Tuesday, but there should be at least two more updates. I've got a cold, so I wont be going anywhere. So the computer will be my enjoyment for the next few days. - Min

Pretend World

by: xScenex

Chapter Three: Strangers Bite
(Yes, odd title, I know)

Previous:

He smiled and lunged forward. "This!" he cried out loudly as his arms clasped around the girls' shoulders. He spun her around then held her in a tight embrace right as he turned on heel. They began falling backwards to the floor and with a sound much like that of a light, musical note, they disappeared. The tinkling sound echoed throughout the room, along with the ringing laughter of the Angel.

And then the room was completely empty, with the exceptions of shadows and dark light that danced about with the falling feathers left in place of the Angel.

The night had only begun.

It was a different sensation to that of normal wizarding apparition. The feeling was more warm and soothing than that of the squeezing of a tube. Harry smiled at the tingling of his skin. He liked this traveling method.

In mere moments though, it was over and Harry nearly laughed when Carey screamed out loud as they found themselves high above Privet Drive, up in the chill air.

"Harry!" she cried out, clutching onto him with a vice grip. "Go down! I don't want to fly!"

"Don't you play Quidditch?"

"No," she buried her face against his chest. "I hate it."

His eyebrows rose in surprised confusion. "Well, you'll just have to hold on then. This is the best way to travel. At least I know I wont get stuck somewhere, like with apparition."

"Right," came the reluctant reply. "But it's so cold."

Harry didn't find it that cold, but out of kindness, he struggled wandlessly to turn a feather into something cloth like. What came out wasn't much of a blanket, but it was something. With only one arm holding onto the scared girl, he wrapped it around her. "Better?"

"Sort of," she mumbled.

"So tell me," Harry said while looking around. "What are things like in this place?"

"What do you mean?"

Harry paused and thought carefully. What did he really mean? What did he really want to know? He knew that he had left his own life, and was somewhere else. "Well, what year is it?"

"It's 1994. Well, nearly 1995, but that's in a few days," she told him matter-of-factly.

"Wow," he muttered. "It's definitely not my time then."

"What do you mean?" she echoed her previous words.

"Before I woke up here, it was 1999. Talk about time-travel."

"Wow, so what's it like in a few years?" Carey asked, eyes bright with the thought of the future.

Harry frowned and looked away. He felt his skin tingle at the thought of the future and what had already happened to him. He blinked and looked up at the shrouded night sky and whispered, "Horrible."

Carey didn't say anything, nor did Harry for a long time. When he finally did, he told her randomly, "Carey, you never did tell me who defeated Voldemort."

The girl sucked in her breath loudly, "Don't say his name!"

A deep anger filled his chest, "What; Voldemort? Why shouldn't I say his name? It's not like he'll come bear down on you if you say it. To fear the name only increases the fear of the thing itself." Those borrowed words seemed to linger in the air. Carey's face was set to stone and she wouldn't look Harry in the eyes.

He ignored it, used to the looks from people he had known. "Well? Who is it?"

She hesitated for a moment, as if she were debating if she should tell him or not. Eventually, she said stiffly, "Draco Malfoy."

That was like a slap to the face. Harry felt himself go into numb shock at the mere thought of a Malfoy being 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. "You can't be serious…"

"Of course I am, why would I lie about that?"

"… Malfoy?" he asked weakly. "Why him? It makes no sense…"

"What's wrong with him being The-Boy-Who-Lived? Better him than me," Carey sniffed quietly. "I heard that mum and dad were targeted by You-Know-Who as well, and I had a chance to be the savior. Why are you so shocked, anyway? Wasn't Draco The-Boy-Who-Lived where you were?"

Harry moved his head in a half nod, half shake of his head. He had no way of responding to that question at the moment, as the shock was still fresh.

"Harry… Harry? Are you alright?"

It took a few moments before the boy was aware of Carey waving a hand in front of his face.

Harry faked grinned before he moved his wings in an upward sweep. "Of course I'm fine," he told her. But on the inside, he was actually quite confused and unsettled. The movement of his wings took them a few yards up and over. He decided that it was time to start experimenting on how to actually fly right. It wasn't exactly easy, he mused.

After about eight minutes of zooming endlessly above the house, he found a way to fly that didn't seem too awkward.

"Okay, ready for take-off," he said lightly. Carey didn't respond. He looked down and realized that she was asleep in his arms. He had been so determined in his efforts to fly that he hadn't realized she'd dozed off. The boy smiled slightly at the look of ease on her face before he took off westward.

The night passed by slowly, almost at an agonizing pace. Harry liked the feel of the chill air on his face, as his wings swept the air into a riveting current. He just worried that Carey would catch a cold. And he worried that he may not be able to go on for much longer.

The grief that had settled in his heart hours before was still there, and his body ached for numerous reasons. Using that wandless magic earlier before had taken a lot of energy out of him, but he tried to just push the fatigue to the back of his mind and pushed on into the night.

After a while had passed, Harry began to recognize some of the surrounding area. He planned to go to the Burrow and find Scabbers and take him to the ministry if it was possible. He was surprised that Sirius hadn't escaped yet, and thought hard about it. He wondered if it was because Carey wasn't the chosen one of the prophecy, and she wasn't in much trouble. But if Sirius was still in prison, then Peter was still hidden away in his rat form. That meant that to find him, he'd have to find Ron and the other Weasley's. At the sudden thought of them, he faltered in his flying and fell nearly three yards before catching himself.

He winced as he struggled to hold onto the sleeping form of the girl in his arms. It wasn't that she was heavy, she was just more weight to add to his exhaustion and the fall had taken his breath right out of his lungs. He vaguely wondered if Angel's usually breathed in air. He had thought them to be immortal beings.

An icy wind blew around him and he had to fight against the current to stay upright. Maybe it would be better if he took a rest.

Slowly, he lowered himself towards the ground. It was more of a suburban area, with less houses and shops. More stretches of fields came into view, and Harry was grateful for that.

He was getting closer to the snow covered ground, when he realized he was only a few meters away from a small, dully lit house. The curtains were open and he could see shadows of people from inside. He cursed and pushed with his wings to back himself away and into the shadows but didn't count on the gust of wind from his wings to cause hidden wind chimes to sound riotously against each other.

"Bugger," he groaned as he flung his wings up over his head in attempt to raise himself up again. On the push downwards, a flurry of snow flew in every direction just as someone looked out of one of the windows.

He zoomed upwards a few yards and looked down just in time for the front door of the house to open, and out came two people.

"What was that?" a timid voice asked loudly. It was obviously a woman.

"I don't know, but did you see that? Whatever it was, it unsettled all the snow!" This was a man's voice.

"Maybe it was a wolf?"

"Nah, they aren't around this area," the man answered back. Harry held his breath and moved his wings as quietly as he could to stay up in the air. "What's that?"

Harry saw the man point towards him. The snow illuminated everything with it's white presence and trying to hide in the night was nearly impossible.

"Is it a bird?"

Harry flapped his wings strongly, sending another gust of air towards the people. He didn't purposely mean to catch them with the current; he just wanted out of there.

"Ah!" the woman's scream was loud in his ears.

"What the -- that's not a bird!"

Harry cursed and turned to fly away, but with his luck, he didn't flip right and ended up falling over with the weight of the girl in his arms. They fell towards the ground a bit and he nearly lost his grip on Carey for the umpteenth time. In all the commotion, he failed to notice that the girl had woken up and looked up at him as if he were a dream.

"Harry?" she whispered, her voice hoarse with sleep. "Is that you? What's going on?"

"Just a bit of a run in, that's all," he replied with clenched teeth. "Just hold on tight. I'm having a few difficulties staying upright. Some people saw me down there."

That's when Carey looked down and screamed loudly at the height and latched her arms around his neck tightly. Harry nearly cursed angrily, but instead, he focused on moving back up into a semi-correct position.

"Danny, that… that thing has someone!"

"What is that thing!"

"Get the gun! Danny, get the gun! It'll get us too!"

The shrieks of terror that came next were horrendous. Harry felt his mind fog with confusion of what was going on. He fought against wanting to land on the ground as he could feel his muscles began to give out on him. He had trouble breathing with Carey's arms around his neck, cutting off much needed oxygen. A light-headed feeling came to him.

He felt himself lowering more to the ground, and shut his eyes tightly. "Carey," he ground out desperately, "Please loosen your hold, I can't breathe."

The girl gasped in surprise. "I'm so sorry! I'm--"

A loud sound boomed from below them, cutting off anything the girl was saying. Harry's eyes flew open as a piercing pain filled his left leg. He let out a agonized yell, his voice ripping through the night nearly as loud as the metallic noise from before.

He had just been shot at.

"Harry! What was that?" Carey's voice was panicked and Harry wasn't sure what to say to her as the pain grew even more profound.

"Just hold on, and be quiet," he told her with a pained growl. He turned around, shielding Carey instinctively with his own self. His wings quivered at his pain and he hurriedly forced them to shoot down, causing him to fly upwards in a huge arc. Another shot came and this time it missed them by a few feet.

"It's getting away!"

Another shot came and Harry felt his body go into complete panic as the bullet seared through his left wing. He couldn't see through the white and black spots that now clouded his vision. A scream ripped from his throat and his wings responded in desperate, jerky movements.

Without knowing where he was heading, Harry flew off blindly. Carey was sobbing hysterically in his arms and it was without a doubt that she was starting to be covered in his own blood.

The girl was saying things to him but he didn't hear her over the wind in his ears, and the ringing that sounded in his mind.

The pain… the pain was too much, he thought. He gagged on the air he breathed, sputtering violently. His breathing became labored and he staggered in the air as the cold wind hit his throbbing wounds. Luckily, they were now far enough away from the couple with the gun to not be shot at or seen.

"Harry!" Carey shouted loudly. Said boy looked up for one single moment only to see tears on the girls face, before he felt himself black out. And with that, he fell backwards towards the ground for the second time that night… down into the darkness once more.

Back at the small house, the couple stared in shocked silence at the sky above them.

"Wh… what was that thing?"

"It looked like a giant bird," the girl whispered, clutching onto her boyfriend, Danny.

"I don't think that was a bird," he responded, hands shaking as they held desperately onto the gun. "when I shot it, it let out a human scream. No animal sounds like that - especially not a bird."

"Then what was it?"

"I don't know…"

"Should we call the police?" The girl looked at him, "They might be able to track it."

"Okay, lets call them. It's best not to stay out here in any case."

The girl nodded, and her and her boyfriend headed back into the house, making sure to lock all their doors and windows.

The next thing he felt was the cold snow against his soaked back. He didn't want to open his eyes to the surrounding darkness, so he kept them closed. He could feel a heavy weight on his chest through the searing pain. What was it?

Carey? He called out to the girl but no answer came back to him. He called out once more and opened his eyes to the bleary surroundings.

The girl was on top of him, obviously unconscious. He groaned loudly and shifted a bit to try and get up. His wings provided some help, and he was quite surprised to find them not broken, albeit the feathers were ruffled horribly and one wing was stiff when dried blood.

When he was able to get into a sitting position, he shook Carey lightly. She didn't respond and Harry wondered for a moment if she was injured. Luckily, after inspecting, he found her to be quite fine, besides the fact that she was covered in his own blood and soaked with the cold water from the snow. He noted that she also had a large bump on the side of her head - she must have acquired it during their fall.

He then realized that he needed to get them somewhere safe or they might freeze to death. He gritted his teeth against the pain and stood up the best he could on his good leg, while only putting so much weight on his other leg to make it bearable. He'd been through worse - but pain was still fresh in his mind.

"Bloody hell," he groaned loudly. "I'm never going near a gun again."

He whipped his wings up, showering himself with flakes of ice and snow. With that movement, he swung them down again and lifted awkwardly into the air.

The going was rough, but he eventually found himself making some progress. He had been out for a long time, as the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon. Morning was coming soon.

As he got higher up into the air, he took a through look around him. He knew where he was. He was near Ottery St. Catchpole. The Burrow had to be close by. He thought idly if it was worth going there to try and save himself and Carey. He decided it was the best thing. Besides, he didn't want Carey to get sick.

But he couldn't let them see his wings, that was for sure. So he landed shortly after the tall, leaning building of the Weasley's home came into view. He got rid of his wings quickly and fell to his knees in the snow where it wasn't so dense.

He laid the girl down in his lap to get a better hold of her to carry. He slipped on arm under her back and the other under he knees and stood up painfully. He could get there in good time; he'd been through worse in the war.

He knew he had to be a bit quick about it though - his body wouldn't hold out against the blood loss for too much longer. But the small rest had helped a bit, and he was able to concentrate some.

So for the next ten minutes, he stumbled, staggered, and slumped towards to large house where he yearned to be. He kept his mind off thinking of the Weasley's, all of whom he cared about deeply. He couldn't let the fact that they were alive here mess with him. He had more important things to do than to think of what had happened in his own past.

Before he realized it, he found himself at the front door of the house. He looked around unsurely through the dawn's first light. The air of winter was crisp and gave him a bit of hope.

Clumsily, he set the girl down on her feet, holding her up by her waist as she lent back against him. He vaguely wondered what had happened to his makeshift blanket for her but shrugged the thought away. It wasn't the time to think of that.

He knocked unsurely at the door. He wasn't quiet positive if Mrs. Weasley was already awake, or not. She had a way of changing her sleeping habit around depending on what kind of week or month it was or had been. Luck was on his side, and he could hear movement from inside. He smiled gratefully and rested one palm against the doorframe to hold himself up as he tried to put all his weight on his other foot.

Moments later, the door opened a crack and he could see a flash of red hair.

"Hello? Can I…"

There was a loud gasp and a face came into view. That was as much as Harry's mind could take, seeing the face of someone who he loved dearly in his past. He felt his eyes roll to the back of his head and he fell forwards as his world closed in with black silence.

A/N:

"You wished me dead. And so be it."

"You had a choice, brother of mine. But you chose a wrong path to follow."

"It was destiny."

"There is no destiny in this world. Not now, not ever."

"Can you be certain?"

"There is no destiny, no faith! We are human, and we will chose our own wills!"

"You are human. I am not. Remember this: When the sun falls from the sky, you will not be alone. I will be waiting…"

Scene in a story I'm writing. Copyright goes to me. :D Pfft. I'm too poor to own a copyright. I thought it sort of suited the story I'm writing, in a very odd way. Voldemort and Harry are sworn enemies, connected in some way. In my story, there are two brothers (twins) and one is good and the other is evil. The evil twin sold himself away to the evil in the world and became less human. In the end, they fight and the good twin kills the evil, but the last words he spoke to the good one were those. Lol. Well, it's not really the story itself, it's a story within a story. Confusing, no? Sorry. I'll shut up now.

So yeah, this chapter seems a bit repetitive. Re-writing this chapter from what was already there was so hard. I should have just deleted the original and written this all over again, as it's too… well, tedious. But meh.. It provides some information that could give you clues to things. I guess. Or maybe it just solves a few of your questions.

Anyways, uh… another note: after this chapter, updates may take a few more days than they have been. These chapters I've updated were really all together six chapters originally (they were really short) and I put them together. They were all that had been written chapter-like, but I have a bit more in rough-draft form. The next chapter is already halfway written, so that should be up soon. But after that, it may take longer.

;; Min