For Warnings and Disclaimer see Chapter 1

Chapter 6: Getaways and Greetings

Last time…

"Unknown to Lucius that as he threw insult after insult at Dumbledore's stupidity, the very thing he was arguing about was about to be found by his own son very very soon..."

– [-}x{-] –

It had been three days since Lucius Malfoy had left his family for the Ministry and Draco was almost at his wits end. It was bad enough that his Mother had gone stir-crazy but it was even worse that she was trying to drag him down with her. The woman kept on trying to make him have 'tea parties' with her, where she'd talk at him about his future wedding and what to name her future grandchildren. Draco really hated these talks so he had taken to avoiding his Mother by any means possible. After three straight days and nights of running and hiding, it had become quite clear to Draco that his Mother was not coping well from her detachment from the rest of society.

So that was why Draco was currently hiding in the wine cellar from his insane Mother. The trapped blond sighed sadly as he drew patterns on the bricks beneath him. He had to stay alert because at any moment his tormenter could swoop down on his hiding place. For such a huge mansion there was a surprisingly few secure hiding places, and who knew his Mother was going to be so good at locating them. He had been in the cellar for almost two hours now and he was starting to get bored of re-reading the many labels of the countless wine bottles around him. He was about to stand up and stretch his sore muscles when an ear-splitting shriek of "DRACOOO~!" broke the silence.

Taking a deep breath Draco quickly started to search for an escape route. The sound of approaching footsteps told him that the door was a no-no and the barrel on the trap door was too heavy for him to push. Seeing no other option he climbed up the wine racks and tried to push open the small window that was there. 'Tried' being the main word because no matter how hard the boy pushed the window remained only haft way open.

As he was taking a moment to catch his breath Draco realised that the footsteps outside the door had stopped and a low growling sound had replaced them. It was at this moment that Draco seriously wondered if his Mother was channelling his Aunt Bellatrix and by the way the woman was now scratching the varnish off the door and yelling "DRAKIEPOO" at the top of her voice, the idea seemed plausible.

With the threat that possession might possibly be the case, Draco doubled his efforts to escape his once safe haven. He had just managed to open the small window all the way when the door blew clean off its hinges, after his Mother seeming remembered that she was indeed a witch with magic at her disposal. Wasting no time the boy began to quickly squeeze his thin body through the slim gap of the window, just as the deranged woman started to approach the wine racks at a feverish pace.

Panic empowered the blond boy as he felt clawed nails swipe at his still exposed right ankle and he kicked out with his left foot. Thankfully not connecting with flesh but hearing a crash Draco scrambled out and fled from his Mother's enraged screams and ran deeper into the gardens surrounding the manor.

As he ran Draco glanced back to make sure his Mother was not in pursuit and after a few minutes of blind running and it was when it was clear she wasn't he stopped and took in his surroundings. He was at the edge of the wards, atop a grassy knoll facing a huge forest that appeared to spread to the horizon and beyond. It seemed as if the magnitude of the forest had absorbed all the sound into its unending rows of trees because not even a bird call could be heard.

With only the sound of his quick breathing as company, Draco began to feel extremely disturbed by the sheer stillness of the great wood before him. He was used to the quiet. Yes, the manor had always been big, empty and quiet but there had always been the sound of soft gossiping by the house elves or his Mother's many social gatherings to ward off the complete and utter silence. And now this forest was projecting a silence so loud that it made his ears ring. How he wondered, could something so obviously alive be so utterly and tragically dead.

Draco was so entrapped by the forest that he unconsciously took a single step forward in wonder and that's all it took to send him plummeting head first down the not so soft grass hill. Multiple scratches, bumps and shredded robes later, a rather muddy pureblood lay crumbled at the bottom of the hill at the outskirts of the forest. Looking around him the boy noted that he was now at the ldge of a river that was poking out slightly from the forest. He must have missed it when he had first examined the forest earlier he thought.

As he sat up and started to grumpily pull the sticks out of his now ruined hair, Draco internally thanked the Gods that he had not landed in the pool. Reaching down into the before mentioned pool, Draco cupped his hands in the cool water and started to wash off the mud. Finally getting rid of all the mud around his eyes, the blond boy looked up when he heard a faint splash. Glancing around and seeing nothing Draco went back to his task of getting all the mud out of his hair. Just when he was about to lift his hands from the water he suddenly felt something wrap around them. He had just a second to register that the 'thing' was indeed another pair of slightly smaller hands, before the whole top half of his body was roughly dragged under the water.

Frozen with surprise and maybe a pinch of fright Draco held his breath as he looked at his attacker with water blurred eyes. He slowly let his gaze travel along the offending appendages, arms pale like his but more white than pink they were also a bit on the thin side, the thin arms were connected to thin shoulders and a naked lean chest. Cheeks hinting pink Draco let his eyes continue their journey up ward towards his attackers face. It was that moment that steel grey and emerald green met for the first time in a clash of surprise, fear and wonder.

As sudden the connection was made it was also broken when the emerald eyes widen with fright and pushed the stunned blond back out of the water and disappeared with a splash. Leaving Draco Malfoy alone sopping wet sitting in the mud with a dumbfounded look upon his face. Slowly he stood up and began looking around the area for whee the other had vanished off to. Finding nothing and starting to become a tad miffed, Draco spun on his heel and began to make the trek up the hill.

At the top he turned around and faced the great forest, the river again hidden from sight and made a vow. A vow that he would find and see that green eyed thing again or die trying, because nobody made a fool out of Draco Malfoy and got away with it... Or this is what he told himself on the walk back to the manor and that the vow had nothing to do with the fact that he has had no human contact, other than his in the last few days. Nope, nothing. Nothing at all.

– [-}x{-] –

A/N Hey peeps long time no see, sorry for the short chappie last time hope this one makes up for it. So they finally meet, so what do you all think, review? Also stay tuned for the next chapter where we see it from Harry POV. One last thing before I go, do you think I should move my AN's to the top or are they fine here?

Love always GeenieMac :U