Chapter One:
The Rooster Moans
A/N: Please read, review and enjoy!
Crack of dawn the rooster moans
Wake up boy you're far from home
Serpentine the tracks in flame
Longest path the devil laid
Led you straight aboard this rusty train.
Lift your head 'cause you can't sleep
Bite your lip 'cause you can't eat
Darkest den the devil made
Jesus weeps but he's been paid
Not to ride inside this rusty train.
Harry woke with a groan, his head throbbing immaculately as he propped himself up on his elbows. The hard surface beneath himself told him that he was still in the forest, but the sound of a small creak trickling by also told him that this area was much more vacant than where he had last remembered being.
He opened his eyes slowly to adjust to the early morning light, it seeped in through the green leaves of many trees and he bathed in it before looking around. There was no sign of anybody, nothing, save for a cloak left folded beside him. Curiously Harry fingered the cloak and brought it towards him.
Bringing the piece of fabric close to him, Harry realized that the cloak smelled strongly of lavender and pine, beneath all of the dirty that covered the bottom of it of course. Harry smiled at the scent, he found it relaxing and enthralling all at once.
"Ah, you have finally decided to join the real world again, Potter," an unemotional voice sounded from behind him. Harry quickly dropped the cloak and jumped to his feet to turn to the speaker.
"Malfoy? How-how did we get out of there...alive?" Harry croaked, every word felt like a burden to him as Draco sauntered slowly towards him.
He put his slender hand on Harry's shoulder and looked down at him with a calculating look in his eyes, Harry looked back up with confusion but didn't move. "You need to rest, I reccomend sitting back down," he whispered before turning his back to Harry and walking towards the small stream.
Harry took in his surroundings. Most of it was brush, trees, dirt and patches of grass. It really was a stunning place, even though he had no idea where he was. "Malfoy," he began slowly, walking towards the blonde who was kneeling by the water with his hands resting gently in the small rapids.
Draco looked worn out, his usual perfect platinum hair was ruffled everyway and there were smudges of dirt all over him. He was wearing a white blouse and had it rolled up to his elbows, his black slacks were wrinkled and slightly wet around the ankles. "Where are we and what happened last night?" Harry asked guardedly, he still had no idea what was going on and he needed information before he relaxed. Voldemort could be waiting just around the bend for them, and Harry knew he had to do something about that.
Sighing heavily, Draco turned to his classmate of six years through clouded silver eyes. "Sit down Harry, then we'll talk," he ordered gently.
Harry gaped and then closed his mouth before sitting cross-legged beside Draco. "We're somewhere up north in the country, quite far from any civilization. This is where Voldemort wanted to have his initiation so it wouldn't be interupted...but apparantly Lupin had a tracking device on him or whatever and it activated once it sensed danger,"
"Yeah, it's a Seek-Out-Escope," Harry hurried along, he already knew this.
"Well just as Voldemort was about to squash us like two little bugs, the Order arrived and I apparated us out of there. My apologies, I have no idea where I apparated us though I do know it is in the same place as we were before, just a different area of the forest. It seemed the safest bet because no Order member would have been quick enough to save our skins," he growled before taking another deep breath and concentrating on the water rushing over his rugged fingertips.
"Nott decided that instead of showing up for the initiation he'd bring you along. So he caught you unawares and Portkeyed you to us, that slimey bastard,"
"I get that and all but...why did you deny Voldemort?" Harry asked cautiously, he needed to know this because if Draco was bluffing anything he'd need to quickly apprehend him for his own safety though for some reason Draco seemed the least bit threatning at the moment.
"You were right about him. He is a raving lunatic, insane, makes no sense. Hates Muggles even though he's half of one. I never wanted to follow him but I knew I had to, I knew that this would be expected of me. But when I saw you there, how you were all alone but still stood up for what you believed in I felt like a coward. I couldn't let myself become my fearful Father, I needed to do something about it. Did you really expect me to curse you?" Draco was whispering now, his eyes were focused completely on the water as he felt Harry's heavy contemplating gaze on himself.
"For some reason, I couldn't see you throwing an Unforgiveable at me," Harry nodded slowly in agreeance.
"I don't know anything else so don't ask me. I scouted out the area once I apparated and it seems like we're pretty faraway. I haven't any idea which way is North and I tried to get food this morning but I haven't any idea what half the creatures are in here and what's edible and....urgh, Potter, what the fuck are we going to do?" Draco groaned now, splashing a fist into the water which sent sparkles all across his skin.
Harry frowned and leaned forward, placing a hand on Draco's back as he hunched over. "Don't worry, it'll be alright. You look knackered, have you slept?"
"Not a wink. With you bloody laying unconscious how could I? What if Death Eaters just came barging in?" he hissed, shrugging off Harry's hand.
"Right well...thanks and all but I think you need rest more than me right now,"
"You honestly think that? After you somehow deflected the Killing Curse using a simple Protego last night? You drained yourself of all your energy and you expect me to sleep now instead of you? If either of us needs to be well rested when Voldemort finds us, it's you,"
Harry's eyes widened in sudden memory. He had done that, hadn't he? "How did you do that, by the way?" Harry gulped at the question.
"I haven't any clue, Malfoy. Dumbledore has a theory that when used for...protection, the Killing Curse can be rightfully diverted. That's his theory on how I survived it as a baby, because my Mother died protecting me and her love reflected it. Urgh, all this makes no sense!" Harry grumbled, his brow furrowed as Draco still sat stiffly beside him. "One minute I'm having a good friendly lunch with Remus and then...this! We have to figure out a way to contact the Order or Hogwarts or Hermione...somebody!" Harry felt his panicked mind beginning to fully realize what situation he was in.
They were two sixteen year-olds trapped in the middle of an uncharted forest in Northern Britain, isolated from all else but themselves. If Voldemort didn't find them, they would most certainly die from starvation. "Malfoy it was quick thinking to do a local apparition and I'm sure the Order put the Death Eater initiation to rest and all but...what are we supposed to do?"
"Wish I could tell you but at this moment I know we're safe so the first thing that matters is resting up, for the both of us. However you deflected the Killing Curse it left you nearly dead, Gods it was scary to see you like that," Draco's eyes widened considerably at the memory of it. Harry's sweating, shaking body in his hands as he saw the boy's face turn blank and his breathing slow. "Y'know, for a minute I thought the world was going to lose their Golden Boy,"
Harry rolled his eyes but he felt a smirk on his face, "Well I couldn't let you get hurt by the blast now could I? How would Slytherin survive without their Prince?" he teased, lightly shoving the blonde who forced the smile from his face, sliding over a mask.
"Looks like they are going to have to, at least until we find our way out of this mess. It's not like I'll be their high and mighty Prince anymore,"
"Why? Just because you said No to Voldemort? I thought being a Slytherin was about cunning and manipulating others! Gods you're not a Death Eater but you're still a Malfoy," Harry joked, trying to lighten the mood as he didn't like to hear the sadness in Draco's voice as the blonde thought about his housemates.
"I guess you're right but, does that really matter right now? I think we've had enough talking for now, it is time for you to rest again Potter," Draco ordered gently, his eyes still not leaving the waters bank.
Harry laughed lightly, "Malfoy, your turn to sleep. I'll keep an eye out and also go searching for some kind of edible berries or something. Maybe I can stun a rabbit or a fox," he shrugged and then shivered at the thought of it. He was particularly hungry, his stomach growled.
"Yeah alright. I reckon we will need to figure out an appropriate purification spell for water, too. That can come later. But as of tomorrow, we cannot camp here any longer," Draco said, standing up finally and stretching out his arms, his dirtied blouse raising up over his head revealing a small patch of pale, smooth torso that Harry blushed away from.
"Why not? I like it here. And if we stay put it's easier for the Order to find us," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Think about it Potter. If it will make the Order's job easier, do you not think it will make Voldemort's job easier too? Only a fool would lie in wake, hoping it was his friends retrieved him first instead of his foes. Our best bet is to keep moving South, whichever way that is," Draco mumbled and rubbed his head, walking over to where Harry had discarded his cloak on the ground.
Silently Harry watched Draco as he laid to rest the same spot Harry had woken up from, pulling his own cloak close to him and quickly slipping into a slumber. Harry stayed unmoving for awhile until he brandished his wand from his pocket. "Point Me," he ordered it, thinking of North. The wand pulled towards the left side of Harry's body, just over the small creak of water. That meant that they had to walk in the opposite direction, Harry kept that in mind as he stood up to begin preperations for the day.
'What's the most important thing, here?' he asked himself, there was too much to think about all at once that survival instincts were being clouded. Harry kept yelling at his subconscious which was screaming back at him; 'Where's Remus?! Is he okay? What about Voldemort...did anybody get hurt in the battle? Dose Lucius have some sort of tracking device on Draco...could Voldemort track me with our connection? Can I track him? How did I despell the Killing Curse?' but he knew none of this was as important as the present situation. None of that mattered, not until he got out of this place alive.
Sighing he stood up with his wand at the ready, he know he'd be able to sense Voldemort if he came anywhere near but it wasn't the Dark Lord he was frightened of. It was unknown creatures, magical and not. Harry had no idea where he was, even though Draco had a general one it wasn't very helpful.
Harry found himself scouting the area, his eyes squinting beneath his rounded glasses. It felt like a good day; the sun was high up ahead now and beaming through the leaves of the trees, the ground was soft on Harry's feet and his head no longer hurt. He felt rather renewed from last nights experience's, although not mentally. "Alright, food," he decided. It was easier for him to concentrate on one thing at a time instead of being all over the place. What mattered first was survival, for him and Draco to get through that day together so they could start anew.
So he wandered an hour North, passing many birds, foxes, rabbits and small streams of fish-filled water. He attempted to stupefy a couple of rabbits, but to no avail. Harry made his way back to 'homebase' and checked in on Draco. The blonde Slytherin was still lying in the dirt, his platinum hair ruffled underneath his folded hands as he breathed deeply. Harry took a step closer at the sleeping beauty and blushed. 'He looks...so peaceful,' Harry thought to himself, staring for longer than he knew he should.
Finally tearing himself from Draco's sleeping body, Harry took an hours trip east and then west. On his trip an hour west, he perched himself in a squat leaning lightly against the base of a large tree trunk. "It is really beautiful out here," he said to himself, forgetting all of the many troubles he knew were more important than scenery. But somehow deep inside of him, he didn't seem more important. What seemed important was how lovely it looked wherever he was and how he had a sleeping Draco to return to.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw a small jack rabbit dart in behind a bush. His lips twitched up into a smirk at the brown creature, he could see its fluffed tail. The rabbit must be playing bait with another animal, or perhaps just playing by its lonesome. Whatever the jack rabbit was doing, Harry's immediate instinct was food.
With his wand pointed at the bush, the rabbit unawares of his presence merely ten feet away, Harry silently thought the words 'Stupefy' and a jet of light hit the rabbit. Before it could react, the creature fell over nearly lifeless to the forest floor. Harry quickly leapt over to it and picked it up by its tail. With a triumphant smile, he made his way back to camp.
Bypassing Draco, still fast asleep well past noon hour, Harry sat down by the riverbank and smiled down at his catch. "Avada Kedavra," he whispered, and a small jet of green light emitted from his wand and struck the stunned rabbit, taking the life out of it. Harry didn't feel any remorse from this, his growling stomach told him not to. It wasn't like he was Voldemort...killing Muggles for the fun of it. He was Harry, killing animals for food for him and Draco...
'Maybe Ron was right and you do have a hero complex. Look at how much you're trying to protect Malfoy,'
'Maybe you're just doing it because he protected you?'
'Well, technically...you protected HIM in the first place,'
'What else was I supposed to do?'
'I don't, mate, I'm just saying that maybe there's more to it than your little hero complex,'
Harry scoffed at his inner voices, battling lightly with one another as he refused to turn his head around to look at that sleeping figure. He knew he'd be caught up in staring at him, his slowly breathing form. So instead he reached into his cloak and emptied its contents.
Ever since Voldemort's attacks were becoming more frequent, Harry carried with him rather necessary instruments. There were a couple Dark Detectors and Sensors, the Drought of Death potion corked in a small vial, and two vials of Pain Reliever Potion. On top of that, Harry pulled from his cloak a sheethed dagger about six inches long, he took it with him everywhere. Dumbledore had a theory that Voldemort couldn't be killed by Harry's wand, and so that's what the purpose of the dagger was.
Harry unsheethed the silver blade and without thought dug it into the belly of the rabbit. He sneered at the immedate smell of rotting flesh that hit his nose, dark blood seeped out from its soft fur and matted the forest floor. Swallowing down the vile in his throat, Harry ripped the knife upwards and slit all the way from pelvic bone to throat.
It took him nearly an hour to properly remove the rabbits innards, which he dug a small hole by the river and buried there as they could be useful for bait later on. Harry cleaned the fur of the rabbit from all blood and sinew, he whipped it dry on a nearby tree until the sweat beaded from his forehead. He left it hanging off of a branch as he began to collect small sticks from the surrounding area into a small tepeed circle not far from the water.
Once thoroughly satisfied, and exhausted, Harry took the rabbit fur and rubbed it between his fingers. 'It's so soft...natural...' he thought eerily to himself. His emerald eyes widened considerably. 'I just killed a jack rabbit, ripped out its guts, and now I'm playing with its fur like it's nothing? That's gotta be weird on some kind of scale...' he groaned to himself, how could things get any stranger at this point? What other option did he have to take? Suddenly leaving Draco to fend for himself wherever he was.
That simply was the worst option of all. At least Draco generally knew where they were, unlike Harry, and with the two of them lost together in the woods then they could take shifts sleeping instead of getting mauled by werewolves or Death Eaters overnight.
Harry sighed heavily and found himself walking over toward Draco, still clutching onto the rabbit hyde. He crouched down beside the boy and gently reached out to touch the side of his face. It felt so smooth despite the smudges of dirt on it. Harry lifted up Draco's head as slowly and softly as he could before slipping the rabbit fur beneath the side of his face, replacing where his hands had been.
Taking a step back, Harry looked at Draco who snuggled peacefully against the fur, unconsciously enjoying the comfort. Harry smiled at the thought that Draco liked it, and as the blonde slowly blinked himself into consciousness he awoke to a certain brunette hovering over him with a goofy smile.
"P-Potter?" Draco stumbled, slowly sitting up and stretching his arms out to his side. Harry was blushing now, looking away and off into the distance with his hands in his pockets. Draco felt something soft and furry on his hand leaning on the ground, he glanced down at the rabbit fur and raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is that?" he asked dryly.
"Erm, well..you see...I had a lot of time when you were sleeping so I kinda...scouted out the place. Nothing interesting, nobody around for miles. Just trees, water, animals. It's quite beautiful really...and I kinda killed a jack rabbit...erm, thought we could..."
"Food! We have food? Oh I don't care what we eat, as long as it's food! And the hyde is much more comfortable than the ground. Thanks, Potter," Draco said sincerely, though his excitement from the mere mention of food didn't die down.
"You're actually gonna eat that rabbit?"
"Well, aren't you? Is that not why you killed it?" Draco countered, standing up slowly and scooping up his cloak and the rabbit hyde.
"Yeah, but erm...I thought you'd be too...I dunno..."
"Potter," Draco began seriously, "We are Merlin knows where and we haven't a clue how far we are from any form of civilization; Muggle or Wizard alike. Do you expect me to starve myself because of Malfoy pride or something? At this point I will eat what I can and sleep on what I can, do you not think this is our best bet?"
"Er, I guess so," Harry slowly nodded in agreement. "I've got a fire pile ready, just needs to be egnited,"
"Perfect. I thought we should take an inventory of the things we have as well, maybe they could have extra uses. And then, I do believe we should decide on a game plan tonight. Which direction to head, how far to walk each day. We do not want ourselves completely worn out in case Voldemort does end up finding us,"
"Y-Yeah you're right," Harry said with a slight nod, 'When had Draco become so assertive and direct? Or was he always like this?' he thought quietly to himself, thankful that at least the blonde had some idea on where they should take themselves from there. "I still can't believe we're even in this situation," Harry muttered.
Draco sighed heavily, he began to stride lazily away toward the creak, "Me neither Potter, me neither,"
"But I'm glad that I'm not alone," Harry admitted with a slight blush, 'Why are you blushing?! It's only Malfoy and it's only the truth,' he chided himself inwardly.
"Me too," Draco said blankly, but if he had been facing Harry the Gryffindor would have seen a small upturn of Draco's lips into a pleasant, genuine smile.
Buzzard's breath the rooster moans
Stow it boy you're far from home
Stow your sorrows stow your fear
What'd you do to end up here
End up on the devil's rusty train?