New Year's Eve!
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A shrill scream brought Draco Malfoy back to consciousness. Not opening his eyes, Draco extended his magic into his surroundings. As far he could tell, hell was warm, sunny, had lots of birds and was inhabited by screaming little girls that sounded vaguely familiar. Or this could be some strange limbo, he thought as his magic turned inward. His wounds were gone and the sheer ache in his mind that Draco associated with his insanity was gone as well. All that remained was the annoying knowledge that he was very weak and would not be moving for at least the next few hours. It would have been the perfect time for a nap except for a few facts. He was in an unknown location, with a panicking girl who sounded too young to be on her own and as far as he could tell from the delightful breeze going past his nether regions, quite naked. Cracking his eyes open, Draco focused briefly upon the huge tree braches and glimpses of blue sky above his head before he searched for the source of the screams. He was abruptly confronted by a pair of naked buttocks and the fact that the child was not female as the high soprano suggested but in fact male. Whoever the child was, the screams ceased and then only whimpers could be heard as he frantically patted his face for some reason. Trying to sit up, Draco only managed to get his elbows under him before his muscles cramped very painfully, causing him to drop back to the moss covered forest floor with a whimper of his own. At the sound the child turned.
"Oh for fuck's sake." Draco said before clenching his eyes shut. Whichever deity stuck a miniature Harry Potter into eternity with him was a wanker and deserved a long and very painful death.
***
After Harry had made the noise which shall never be mentioned, he quickly brought his hands to his face. Pinching and pulling confirmed that yes, this was his face and no, this was not just a very disturbing nightmare. He looked about five years of age, same as Malfoy, and had pointed ears. This sent Harry into a milder panic attack and he whimpered softly. Suddenly a soft noise came from behind him. Harry turned just in time to see wide grey eyes stare at him for a moment before clenching shut. Malfoy cursed softly and shuffled his limbs as though trying to get up. Moving over to the blonde's side again, Harry decided he would panic later. Right now he needed to get the facts straight and see what was wrong with Malfoy.
Sitting next to the muttering child, for that's what they were now it seemed, Harry waited for him to open his eyes again. A few minutes passed by, Malfoy muttering words like "wanker" and other curses. Impressed but tiring quickly of the gutter talk, Harry interrupted.
"Malfoy are you just going to lay there and curse all day?"
Malfoy didn't move and kept his eyes shut though the cursing did stop. Concerned, Harry leaned closer to the still form.
"Are you alright, Malfoy? You're not hurt, are you?"
Malfoy's eyelids flew up at the query. If Malfoy had been a cat, Harry was sure the other boy would have been spitting and hissing by now, fur puffed up and hackles raised.
"Am I alright?! Am I alright?! Of course I'm not all right, Potter, you wanker! I'm in the Dark Lord's idea of hell, the first thing I see waking up is your naked buttocks screaming like a pubescent girl! And looking like a toddler! And on top of all that I can barely move! So no, I'm not alright."
Harry blinked.
***
Glaring up at the stunned face hovering above him, Draco refused to feel guilty. It was a stupid question to ask anyway.
"Now that you've got the idiotic question of the day over with, where the bloody hell are we? Last I checked the underworld did not have babbling brooks and songbirds floating around. And why are you small?"
At that Potter's face morphed from stunned to amused. Draco snapped his mouth shut and hoped Potter would ignore the last question.
"Well Malfoy, I have no idea why we're toddler size" and here Draco's hope imploded "but as to your other questions I'm sure this isn't hell or the underworld, whichever you call it. I was hoping you might have some idea. Why can't you move if you're not hurt, by the way?"
"I'm just a bit tired from the battle is all, Potter, as you should be too. And if this isn't hell where is it then, some Gryffindor's infantile version of paradise?" the blonde spat. Heaving himself up onto his elbows, Draco found he had enough strength back to hold the position. Finally registering an oddity in Potter's first sentence, he stilled. Feeling himself turn white at the realization, Draco's voice sounded slightly faint when he asked,
"What do you mean we, Potter?
***
Harry didn't know whether to laugh our cry when he realized Malfoy had as much knowledge on the situation as he did. Sighing Harry hoped Malfoy wouldn't throw a tantrum when he found out how big he was. That brave stranger Harry had wanted to know so much before he died? Probably wasn't going to show up again in this lifetime. But hey, Harry had gotten the miracle when it mattered.
"Look at yourself, Malfoy. We're the same size. Whatever spell Voldemort cast before we died must have malfunctioned…unless it was suppose to send us to a woodland glade in the middle of nowhere."
Malfoy's face scrunched up like a lemon. When he moved to sit up, he took on a slight green tinge. Worried Harry slipped an arm behind the other child's slim back, fingers catching on prominent ribs and vertebrae. Whatever damage the spell had healed in cut and bruised flesh, it hadn't healed the effects of starvation and illness. No matter what Malfoy said it was clear the two weren't going to move from the little clearing for some time. They had water at least and were somewhat sheltered from the elements though the lack of clothes might prove deadly if the temperature dropped below what it was at the moment. Luckily, their magic…or Harry's magic at least if Malfoy was unable to perform wandless spells…could provide clothing, shelter and maybe even some food. Foraging would probably be Harry's best bet though since he was rubbish at creating food from magic. But what if Malfoy really got sick? Or what if…
"You dolt, Potter" Malfoy muttered drawing Harry from his panic attack and back to the present. The green tinge had faded now that Malfoy was upright though he did not shake off the arm that supported his back.
"You never took Latin, did you? Hogwart's offered classes, I'm sure. Never mind, it's beside the point. The spell Voldemort used was "Ut deleo suum animus"…it means 'to erase their souls.' Erasing curses are very powerful and very dangerous because they consume so much of a person's core magic. I suppose it could have intercepted with one of the Killing Curses we cast, which would definitely add a degree of variability to the equation. Wherever we are though, we can be sure of at least one thing." And here Malfoy's face lit up with childish glee behind which a sort of weary awe glimmered.
"Voldemort is dead."
***
At this point the two children sat for a moment leaning against one another. All through the years they had known one another, the Dark Lord had been an influencing factor that had cast shadows on both their lives. The realization that the shadow was gone forever momentarily overwhelmed any panic or fear at their present situation with such a bone deep relief that they physically felt weak.
Many miles away in the forest an ancient being stirred in his sleep, muttering beneath his breath with a voice that rumbled through the soft, dark earth.
"Hroom hoom hroom, little creatures come to Fangorn's borders."
***
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For WishingWanderer and anyone else who thought the last two chapters were criminally short, I give you the product of THREE hours of brain torture. Enjoy! Slinks off to bed to wallow in a migraine…owie.