Part III

The Victor

Chapter 19 – Hunted

"One down," Goyle says, pulling his sword out from his belt as his evil eyes glare through Harry and me, "two to go." I can feel Harry's heart pounding against my back.

"Okaaay. Time to go…" Harry says nervously, his voice shaking.

My eyes move off of Pansy's heart and shoot up at Goyle. I can feel my expression turning into rage with just the visual of the blood on his smug face.

"Draco, no!" Harry yells, pulling me back, ordering me like a disobedient dog. My feet skid in the dirt, forcing them to run at this animal in front of me, but Harry's too strong and he's only forcing me back with every movement I make.

"Better run." Goyle taunts inching closer… closer. He's moving slowly, like he wants us to run to give him a challenge.

"DRACO, MOVE!" I freeze in fear, my eyes turning back to Pansy. The hovercraft is coming to take her away. I can tell by the wind and the strange humming in the sky.

"NOW!" Harry yells. My head shoots up at Goyle, causing my heart to leap. He's right in my face, blade raised high, ready to take another kill. Just before he brings it down, Harry finds enough strength to yank me away. I stumble slightly, still shaken up from everything, but I still try to manage in keeping up with him.

He's running in a completely different direction from our boulder. Probably not wanting Goyle to find our hiding spot if he runs straight for it. But – my axe – and Harry's spear. We left them there.

"Harry. Our weapons-" I say, panting, hardly audible.

"Don't worry about that, just keep running!" I hope he knows what he's doing…

I follow him closely, almost to the point where we're running neck and neck. Goyle's only a few feet behind us. I can tell by the shaking of the earth beneath me with every beating stomp his heavy feet are taking. I force my wobbly legs to run faster, but I know my shock is slowing me down and I can't keep up. Harry starts to get ahead of me without even realizing that I'm lagging behind. All I can think about is Pansy. I feel so sick right now – like I can just vomit, but I force it back, trying to be strong, but I'm losing it. I'm really losing it. No, I can't break down now.

Hang. On. Just hang on!

Suddenly something grabs the back of my jacket and it feels like my heart has completely stopped. I barely have time to yell out Harry's name for help, since my body is thrown hard to the ground, knocking the air from lungs, hitching my breath intensely.

Goyle stands over me, blade ready to run right through my body.

"Finally." He says. I try to back up on the ground, but he points the sword at my throat, making me freeze in place with a terrified whine. The blade is cold against my skin, making me shiver.

I look up at him, fear and horror taking over my face. He leans down close to me almost so our noses are touching. We're so close I think a bit of blood that's still on his face is dripping onto mine. He's not even trying to pin me down – probably knowing I'm too weak and scared to fight him off anyway.

"Where's your pretty little boyfriend now, Draco?" He sneers.

I can't even speak. Suddenly my whole body spazzes slightly when Goyle slaps a bloody hand over the left side of my chest, smearing my jacket with scarlet. What, is he going to rip my heart out now?

He smirks, and I cower against the ground, feeling as if a hole will form beneath me and suck me into an abyss of darkness. "Never thought someone's heart could beat so fast." He says in amusement. "Too bad Parkinson's will never beat again."

I look up at him desperately, but I know that won't save me. Something in me tells me to attack him – destroy him for what he just said – what he just did! But that's suicide. All I can do is look up at him with pleading, helpless eyes, "Please, Goyle…" I say with hardly any voice left.

His smirk grows wider at the thought of me begging for my life as he brings his sword down to the center of my chest. "Oh, I'm sorry," He says, tilting his head to one side, really causing himself to look insane. I strain myself from under him and whine as if the blade already went through me, "Am I hurting you?" He taunts. I let out a soft cry and turn my head away, shutting my eyes, and grip the grass beneath my quivering hands. I hope this ends fast. Just cut me open and be done with it.

But nothing happens. Actually, it feels as if Goyle has completely pulled himself off of me because I no longer feel any pressure. I hear a painful sounding grunt and shoot my eyes open, shocked to find that I'm still in the arena alive. Now, it sounds like someone is rolling around in grass violently – like a fight or something. I gasp hoarsely. Harry! I bolt upright to find him and Goyle tossed to the ground, trying to kill each other.

I've never seen Harry so angry and from the looks of things, he's winning. He's got Goyle against the ground, arm pressed to this throat. "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH HIM AGAIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He screams, sending a shudder of panic through my body. I should have known he wouldn't have Goyle pinned down for long, since that animal doesn't even look phased or even threatened. He jabs Harry in the rib cage with his knee, making Harry release Goyle's throat instinctively at the shocking pain that suddenly shoots through him. Potter rolls off of him and lands on the ground, onto his side, holding his stomach in pain, grunting in agony.

I stand up despite the trembling of my legs just when Goyle grabs Harry's white T-shirt, slamming the poor boy against the nearest tree. Harry gasps in anguish, and shuts his eyes tight as the pain pierces his spine, gasping for air and twitching his legs painfully, and effortlessly to get away. Goyle has a fat hand gripping Potter's thin throat, wearing a bloody grin of pleasure. My eyes narrow evilly as my fists ball tightly by my sides, making my nails dig into my palms.

Trying to push him back, I see Harry grip that monster's wrist only to have more air knocked out of him when Goyle uses a free hand to punch him twice in the stomach.

I stagger around, looking for Goyle's sword that he must have dropped in the process of this fight.

I can hear Harry coughing and gasping for air – wheezing desperately. He's in so much pain that he's using his nails to cut Goyle's hand that's wringing his neck. The monster just laughs, as if he likes this – he probably does.

Goyle looks as if he's about to throw another punch, but this time to Harry's face. Harry strains his head away, awaiting the worst. Finally, I find this animal's sword and press the point at the back of his neck, holding the hilt with both hands. Goyle freezes as if knowing I'm right behind him, causing Harry turn his head back with caution when he finds that nothing sticks him. "Let. Him. Go!" I say, my voice deepening into a growl.

There's no way I will kill him – I can't take another life for watch someone else die – even if it's Goyle… No… But I am scared as hell. I can see the weapon in my hand shaking uncontrollably as I hold it in midair.

Reluctantly, Goyle let's Harry go, and I watch as he falls to his knees, coughing and gasping for his breath. His whole body is trembling and I can't take my worry filled eyes off of him as he suffers, even though I wish I could run to him, but I'm too afraid to move. My heart aches. I hate seeing him hurt – it's like I can feel everything he's feeling.

On the corner of my eye I see Goyle turn to face me and my eyes shoot up at him, as I grip the hilt of his sword tighter, only causing it to shake a bit more violently in my grasp at the sight of his blood stained face.

He smiles, "Well, Malfoy doesn't this bring back memories?" I hear Harry's heavy panting retreat and see him lift his head up, fury staining his green eyes like fire. He looks vicious as he stares up evilly at Goyle, like he's ready to stab him repeatedly in the back. There's no mistaking the utter and sever rage burning his face. He must have also been coughing up blood because the side of his mouth is running a thin red river.

"Weapon aimed at a man you, again, cannot kill." Goyle continued. I swallow hard, expression straightening when I remember facing Dumbledore on the astronomy tower. He's right – I'm in that same position again. But this time I'm aiming to kill someone whose intentions were to hurt me and the people I cared about – and in the end succeeding. I should kill him, but I don't know why I can't… As sick as he may seem, he's still a human being… And he was once my friend… I'll never forgive or forget what he's doing, but… I guess deep down, I'll always care about him. Something in me tells me to just pierce this sword through his body and give him the worst death imaginable. But I'm not like that. I haven't lost all my sanity yet.

"Goyle." I say softly, seeing Harry stand up behind him quietly, and slowly making his way over to me.

Goyle just stands motionless, a smirk still planted on his bloody and insane looking face. Even though Harry's by my side now, I still don't take this weapon off of this monster. I just feel better that Harry's out of the clutches of this psycho path.

I shake my head, feeling more tears forming in the back of my gray eyes. "Why are you doing this?" He doesn't say anything, but I swear his smirk is slightly fading. "I know this isn't what you want, Goyle-"

"You don't know-"

"Yes I do!" I say, pressing the blade to his chest when he inches closer, stopping him instantly. "You know this isn't you. And if you do win… You won't win for honor or bravery…"

I feel Harry closing in against my arm, and I slightly feel a bit more relaxed. "You'll just win being the cold blooded, black hearted monster you are."

He still says nothing and now his smirk has faded completely. "And I feel sorry for you." I pause and shift my eyes over to Harry. He's panting and looks slightly beat up and hunched over due to the punches he received in the gut. I look back at Goyle with furry on my face. "But I swear – if you ever hurt him again… You'll have more to fear than yourself, Goyle. Lay another filthy hand on him and I'm turning into the bad guy."

His scowl forms back a few seconds later and Harry and I back up as he inches closer. "You think I'm afraid of a little spoiled brat like you? Just because you're the president's son – that won't stop me from gutting you!"

I give up on trying to talk to him. Nothing will work to make him change his mind or make him see how cruel he is. I'm done. I'm not fighting this bastard anymore. Keeping my gray eyes on his like glue, I lower the blade and toss it to the ground. Harry's grabbing my arm, trying to get me run since Goyle looks like he's ready to go in for the kill. I still stand my ground.

"Draco…" Harry says with an edge to his voice, fear taking over. He grips my arm tighter, slightly pulling me away, and I can tell he's getting more afraid by the second, by the way his body is stiffening like a board against mine.

I take a step towards Goyle and his eyes soften to a sort of confusion. "If you're as strong as you think you are, you wouldn't need a weapon to kill me." I say, trying to sound brave, but I can't help but seem scared.

He doesn't move or take his murder lust eyes off of mine, and as terrified as I am, I keep my own eyes on his, standing still, fighting the urge to run for my life. Even though I feel like that's the better option right now.

Goyle takes a step backward and smirks. It's like Harry is two steps ahead of him, because as soon as Goyle darts for his sword, Harry yanks me back and forces me to run.

Pansy was right this whole time. Goyle is a coward. And I just showed the entire world that. Not being able to fight without a weapon? He'll be remembered for that…

I know he's following us by the heavy footsteps drawing closer from behind. I'm trying to keep my shock under control and force my legs to move fast. I know I can out run Goyle easily, but right now Pansy's death keeps replaying in my head. I still refuse to believe what I saw, even though I secretly know it wasn't just in my head, because I would never imagine something that horrid. Especially when it comes to Pansy. Still, I feel like it was partly my fault. I let her go too easily when I could have followed her in the woods. Maybe if I did, she would still be here right now.

I must be spacing out because my legs start to slow down and I hear Harry scream my name.

I shake my head, coming back to reality, only to skid to a stop, feeling my heart lurch and the air drop from my lungs. Even Goyle, behind me, stops in terror.

Towering over me are two mutts – muttants as Harry called them a few days ago. I feel like I can't move for a second and just stare up at these massive bears. One of them roars deeply and holds up a giant paw to slash me open. My eyes go straight to its long, black, sharpened claws. I swallow hard at the sight of them, terrified to find out what sort of damage those claws can do.

"DRACO, MOVE!" Harry yells as I see him dodge the other mutt's snout as it tries to bring its wide, gapping jaws down on him. I hear Goyle grunt behind me and I jump out of the way as the bear brings its paw down to scrape me open. Only I don't get out of the way fast enough because I feel a shock of pain hit me and an intense stabbing sensation on the side of my neck.

Yelling in agony, I hit the ground, holding the side of my neck as I feel blood gush threw my fingers. Those precious seconds I missed spacing out, only gave this stupid monster more time to plan out its attack. From what I feel, the mutt's claws grazed my neck, my jaw line, and I think my shoulder got hit too.

Looking at my quivering hand, I see it's covered in blood, so much blood that even my arm is soaked in red.

I try to push myself up, but my vision is getting fuzzy and I'm shaking with terror. Hearing the mutt's bone chilling roar again, I bring my head up to it. My eyes widen as I see it hold up its paw again. I shut my eyes and feel myself being thrown onto my back.

My breath hitches when I feel the air get knocked out of me only to feel excessive wait on my chest and stomach, making me gasp even harder. When I get a clear view of what's going on, I see mutt's got me pressed hard against the ground from under it's paw.

I can't move anywhere and I can't even breathe since this bear's heavy foot is pressing so hard on my torso, digging my body into the Earth under my back. I feel like I'm being crushed. I use my bloody hand to dig my nails into its leg, but it doesn't budge. I'm suffocating – in about a few second my rib cage will cave in on my lungs. I want to scream – scream for Harry, wherever he is. But no sound comes out, not even a whimper.

Looking up at this bear's dark brown face, I only feel more fear flush threw me. Its lips are pulled back in a wide and fierce scowl, showing every single one of its razor sharp teeth, dripping droll from its black lips like this mutt can't wait to finish me off and have me for dinner. Its eyes are beety, like two small brown dots in the center of an ugly brown pillow. Not to mention the long diagonal scar across its face.

Pressing its paw harder against my body, I do the only thing I can to show that I'm being tormented and beat the ground in pain with my legs, feeling the life literally draining out of me. So this is what Goyle meant by dying slowly? It hurts…

Wait – Harry! Where's Harry? I haven't seen Goyle either – maybe he ran off. I wouldn't be surprised.

Suddenly I feel the mutt's paw dig deeper into my torso, making me grunt in pain. I look up at its face again, and… wait… It's eyes… they look very similar to – "Blaise?" I rasp, voice sounding like sandpaper with the last bit of air I have left in my lungs. Something in the mutt's eyes fill with remorse and it lightly pulls its paw back. Its lips uncoil with a sense of realization.

Suddenly, the other mutt that was fighting Harry rams its body into the one that's holding me down. Only it seems like it bumped into the other by accident, like it was thrown off by some weird attack and lost balance. They seem to get angry with each other and bear that attached me – the one that looks like Blaise – soon seems to forget that I'm even here.

I gasp loudly for air, and cough. I can't even move so I just lay here limply, gasping for my life to come back into me. I know I'm still bleeding from whatever sort of scratches are on my neck, but I can't find the strength to hold my hand over my wound for presser. Now, I feel someone grab my arm, and usually I would jolt at the touch, but I 'm too weak to care.

Harry hovers over me, his face fuzzy with my own dizziness, and he tries to pull me up to my feet. The bears are still fighting nearby and Harry says something about getting out while they're distracted, but his voice sounds like an echo, so I'm not sure what he said exactly.

I'm wrapped in his arms again, like the night I killed Blaise. Only this time he's practically dragging me since my legs refuse to work. My head is cocked to one side as my eyes are glued to the ground. I can see my own blood dripping in puddles as we try to escape.

Soon the growling of the bear fight becomes faint enough to turn silent and the next thing I know, Harry is sitting me down against the boulder.

Everything goes black…

AN: Short chapter, (for me at least) but a lot of shit goes down. This may be the last chapter for the weekend. I need to study for two midterms on Thuresday. But we got about 8 more chapters to go until this is completed. However, I took a long nap today... and I'm not tired... so I'll start editing 20 and perhaps get it up, but no promises. ENJOY. Those confused about Blaise... just keep reading ;D