A/N: All right here is the next instalment as promised. Enjoy. ^_^

Once again thanks to all those who reviewed! You rock!

Oh and i'm looking for a beta? hello... anyone...

Summary

Harry has defeated Voldemort using powers gained form his newly acquired, very rare and extremely powerful Animagus form. But this extraordinary gift has its downsides. And when Harry imprints on a stranger in the wood will he be able to complete the bond or should the question will he want to. Ok so this is my second ever story and first ever Harry Potter fic soon R&R.

Setting : 7th year, ignores most of HBP, Dumbledore is still alive, Voldemort it dead and gone (cheers!) the war it over, through some DE's are still on the lose.

Disclamer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, though I wish I did.

Warning: this story contains YAOI boy/boy don't like don't read.

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Chapter 3

Harry looked at the pumpkin juice in front of him glumly, wishing for just once that it was a Coke instead, but alas pumpkin juice it remained. The black haired teen pushed the offending glass away and sighed.

He didn't get it, hadn't they had a good time? Harry thought so. So why was the Dragon once again avoiding him? It wasn't fair!

The Gyffindor had made his way back to the clearing the next night- already in a foul mood after his run-in with Malfoy- hoping to meet the other Animagus and spend a few hours their company, running among the trees. But the dragon was a no-show. And Harry was getting angry.

Why did it seem that these days he was always seeking the bloody dragon, if not in the forbidden forest then in class or in the Great Hall. His eyes constantly tracing the faces around him, hoping for a spark of that illusive pull- it was stupid and idiotic and… and stupid. And Harry was getting sick of it and yet couldn't help himself; ever since he had last seen the other Animagus, he'd felt an emptiness in his chest that seemed to get bigger with each passing day.

When had he become so obsessed anyway? It wasn't like he didn't have other things to do with his time, for one he knew he had a growing stack of assignments due that wasn't getting any smaller. He ran a hand through his tangle of perpetually messy hair, pulling on the locks in frustration. He had thought that he and the dragon were becoming friends... But no, no he wasn't suppose to be thinking about the dragon, he had his own friends, good friends, friends who didn't ditch you without a word! He looked over to the friends in question.

Ron was sitting opposite him, plate piled high with an odd assortment of breakfast foods. Currently he was ranting about the unfairness of teachers who according to him abused their authority by demanding a ridiculous amount of homework- apparently his friend was in the same position as Harry.- Hermione sat next to him trying to get the redhead to lower his voice, anxiously glancing toward the head table.

"Look Ron, what if I show you the answers to some of the Transfiguration questions and help you with the introduction for the essay on Basken-Bot-Beetles." The bushy haired witch appeased generously.

"Yeah mate and I'll go with you to the library, if you want? We've a free period this afternoon." Harry added, telling himself that he would have offered even if the dragon wasn't avoiding him, 'After all, it's not like my pile of assignments is going to disappear.' he reflected gloomily.

Both Ron and Hermione looked surprised at his interruption, Harry noted a bit putout, he hadn't been that distant, had he?

When the youngest Weasley recovered, he grinned appreciatively, " Yeah… yeah mate, that would be great, good idea!" the redhead agreed.

Hermione was smiling to, though Harry wasn't sure if it in relief that her boyfriend of the past year had finally lowered his voice or at the idea that both boy would be using their free time for study.

" You know Harry I've been doing some more reading on your Animagus form" Hermione whispered the last two words, glancing around the table.

" Oh?" Harry asked, already use to this exchange. The intelligent witch had taken it as a personal challenge to gleam every last shred of information there was to be had about Lyfith's and their abilities. Information was rare but every now and then she'd find another little detail to share with Harry.

"Yes!", Hermione confirmed, excitement clearly written on her face and Harry felt momentarily bad, how long had the girl been waiting to tell him, he hadn't been much of a friend the last few day obviously.

Forcing extra interest into his voice, for the witch's sake, he asked, "Really, what is it?"

" Well you know how you were able to use both earth and fire elemental magic's to defeat Voldemort?" The girl enquired warily, knowing Harry didn't like to talk about it.

And he didn't, he hated to remember the final battle, how he had, in a burst of uncontrolled magic shot an explosion of searing fire at The Dark Lord, only to have him divert it, with and uncaring sneer as it burn and blistered the bodies of his own allies, who had stood around the madman. Harry shuddered, he could still see the disfigured faces screaming in pain, he could still smell their burning flesh. The Boy Hero had been so appalled that his body in its Lyfith form had shook, and then suddenly it wasn't him shaking but the ground beneath his feet and abruptly with roaring that had pop Harry's ears painfully, the ground had ripped opened under the dreaded Dark Lord's feet and swallowed him into the black depths before the void's rocky edges cashed together with a tremor that seemed to Harry to shake the whole world.

Not letting any emotion show, he only nodded.

Hermione knowingly, hurried past the sensitive topic, " Hm. Yes, well it appears that with practice, you could eventually learn to control all four elements."

That made Harry sit up, firstly leaving aside the fact that he didn't even have the two elements that were in his possession under complete control- his mind flashed again to the burnt faces of the battlefield- but to some day have full control of all four elements, it was mind shattering. Hermione had continued to talk while he digested the information she'd presented him with.

"-Appears that each Lyfith is born with an innate ability to influence one of the elements, in rare cases particular strong Lyifth's have been said to have been gifted with the power to manipulate two or three initially." The young witch continued.

"Ron was bug-eyed, a half chewed pancake forgotten in his mouth- Harry wondered absently if it was blueberry. However the redhead quickly recovered, swallowed and said, "Fuck me, Harry you're a freak!"

His girlfriend slapped the tall teen up the back of his head, Ron having dodged too late, sent her a silken look.

"I know mate" Harry agreed, used to his freckled friend's candid statements, it was one of the reasons he got on so well with the taller boy. "Tell me about me!"

Hermione now tenderly rubbed the spot on Ron's head that she'd had just so mercilessly whacked, green eyes watched as the other boy seemed to unconsciously lean into the gentle touch, his focus inevitably back on his breakfast.

Harry looked away from the couple. He wasn't jealous; he just envied his two best friends. He thought that it would be nice to have someone, not to talk to, he could tell the two Gryffindors anything- though he still hadn't mentioned his dragon- but to you know to have someone to just sit with, like his two friends now, not talking, no words needed. Just knowing-

The dark haired boy suddenly became aware of a pair of eyes scowling at him, blinking his emerald eyes into focus, he realized with some chagrin that he'd unconsciously been gazing in Malfoy's direction, where the blond was seated at the centre of the Slytherin table, surrounded by what remained of his posse.

The Slytherin table was looking a little threadbare this year Harry had noted in the first few days back. Many of its occupants had been expelled or prohibited from finishing their final year by resentful parents. Though Harry also noticed that there were a few unexpected faces of those that had fallowed Malfoy's lead and switched sides during the last battle. 'Probably just realized that their side wasn't going to win.' Harry thought sourly.

The young Hero had of course adverted his gaze as soon as he had become conscious of the blond boys attention. Now he threw a inconspicuous glance over his broad shoulder and considered his school nemesis.

The blond had grown again over the summer, the dark haired wizard noticed reluctantly, but he was still as slim as ever, the pointy git. The Slytherin prince had also abandoned his favoured sleeked-back hairdo, instead letting the nearly white strands fall freely about his equally pale forehead. Harry was startled out of his observations by a pair of steely grey eyes burning holes into him. Mortified at having been caught staring twice- even if the first time was unintentional- Harry quickly turned away to pay attention to conversation around him.

---

Draco strode through the door imperiously, seemingly not caring that he was 5 mins late for detention.

'Well mother always did promote the merits of being fashionably late.' The blond remembered then winced at the wayward thought of his mother. She still had not returned any of his letters.

"Mr Malfoy, so nice of you to join us." McGonagall intoned tartly, her eyes narrowed in contradiction to her sentence.

The Slytherin made his way across the disorderly room that was to be the setting of their detention that evening.

His long, slim legs brought him to a stop before the two Gryffindors, "Professor." Draco managed to instil the barest amount of respect and none of his dislike into the simple greeting- a feat he was quite proud of. He ignored Potter completely.

"Yes, well as I was just explaining to Mr Potter here, the duration of your detention tonight, will depend on how long it takes you both to stack, organise and put away all of the ingredients and items within this room, make sure to get the right shelf's." The Head of Gryffindor House explained dryly. " You may only return to your rooms once the task is complete. Is that understood?"

Both boys nodded sulkily, "Yes Professor" Harry added.

" Good, well then, I have other things to be getting on with. Goodnight gentlemen." That said, the Scotswomen excited the room.

Draco felt the other teen glance toward him briefly, but he just continued to ignore the Golden Boy. Instead he made his way to the nearest table, noting with some dismay that it was cram packed with various magical items. ' Right, might as well get on with it then.' The blond thought dejectedly and started to organise the stuff into potion ingredients and object to be transfigured.

After a moment he heard Potter move to do the same at the other side of the room.

---

They had been working for nearly an hour in an uneasy silence- broken occasionally by the clink and chatter of items being moved. Draco noted that they had only cleared about two thirds of the room so far. And really what the hell was all this junk, doing here in the first place! The young Malfoy half-heartedly suspected McGonagall of creating the mess just to have something tedious to punish them with.

He heard the Gryffindor sigh and looked over to see the boy yawn, his tanned arms stretched wide above his head. The blond absently noted that the horribly faded red T-shirt was stretched thin over the saviour's toned chest- couldn't Potter afford better clothes now that he had saved the Wizarding World! Draco mentally criticized as he watched the boy yawn yet again, 'Lazy git'. It was all his fault that they where here in the first place.

The brute hadn't even apologised of knocking him down that night, not that the blond really expected him to. But then to add insult to injury the bloody twit had, had the nerve to shove him into that blasted wall. It was unforgivable. Draco had only spoken the truth after all- although he had to admit that he had only used the offensive slur because he knew it would get a rise out of the predictable teen, but still.

However he had took some comfort at the thought of the young Gryffindor alone in forest that next night, searching for the blond's Dragon form- Draco wondered idly just how long the other had searched. It had been clear that the brunet had wanted to meet up again. Draco liked to believe that he wouldn't have gone anyway, but he firmly drew the line when Potter had unrepentantly gotten them both a fist full of detentions. The Slytherin had nevertheless missed transforming that night; his dreams had been plagued by the smells of the damp forest and the greenness of …the trees.

The blond shook his head, dislodging the memory; the point was, it had been worth it. If his absence managed to cause the Gryffindor even an inking of discontent and it seemed to. And although the grey-eyed wizard couldn't be sure that the Boy Wonder's sulkiness in the following days had been a result in his continued avoidance but he liked to think it did.

He remembered how the Golden Git had looked particularly frustrated that morning at breakfast, oh and that was another thing! What had been with all the staring?

Twice he had noticed the other boy's focus on him. The Slytherin had briefly worried that the young hero had somehow, miraculously guessed at his identity. But then he'd rationalized that nether of the looks the boy had sent him had been in the least suspicious, quite the contrary, the first especially had seemed- although a little gazed- almost wistful.

He had not realized that he had come to a stop and had started to study his rival's tanned profile. That is, until said profile turned and the blond was met with a pair of confused emerald eyes.

Not able to believe that he'd just been caught doing, what he had been internality belittling the other boy for having done, embarrassment flooded his pale cheeks before he could get his 'Malfoy Mask' in place. Frowning he ignored the other's raised eyebrows and turned back to the table.

Harry looked at the Slytherin's pink cheeks in bafflement, 'What the hell was that?!' the Wizarding Saviour thought then mentally shrugged, Malfoy it seemed, would always be a mystery- even if his cheeks did flush prettily. And that errant thought had him spluttering inwardly.

Malfoy was not pretty; he was a slimy git, practically evil! Harry insisted stubbornly and for good measure so to prove his sincerity, he snapped over his shoulder at the blond, "Get back to work!" with maybe more force than necessary. This was directly fallowed by a wince, as he heard the Slytherin – who had been about to continue with said work in the first place- paused, his narrow back stiffening before the blond whirled back to the now cringing Gryffindor.

"What did you just say, Potter?" the blond hissed.

Harry groaned inwardly, already mourning their tense truce but he dutifully turned so that he was once again facing the other boy.

"Look… I just meant-" Harry tried to deflate the situation, but was cut off.

"Where do you get off telling me that?" the furious wizard growled, stepping forward swiftly to get in Harry's face "When it's your fault we're in here in the first place!"

"Wait how was it my fault." Harry protested, his own temper rising.

"Ha, I didn't think your puny Gryffindor brain was that flabby." The Slytherin laughed without any trace of humour, "It was you who started it! You ran into me!" and as if to demonstrate, the slightly taller teen shoved against the burette's board chest.

Harry stumbled back, bewildered " I told you it was an accident" he retaliated with his own shove, "And you're the one who insulted my friend." Harry defended.

Draco had fallen into the table he had been working at, sending all the organised bricker-brack streaking across the floor.

The blond scoffed "I was only stating facts, though it really is too bad that Voldemrot didn't get a chance to off her before he-" but the words were choked off, as the irate Hero's hands closed tightly about his rival's slender throat, bending the startled Slytherin backwards over the table.

Harry constricted his large hands further, while avoiding the thrashing legs on either side of his own. His body registered pain, as the other's long fingers bit into the soft flesh of his hands but his mind was elsewhere. It was focused on an altogether more pleasant feeling. His head buzzed with it and the emptiness in his chest was once again filled, Harry thought absent-mindedly that it must have been the fighting that was sending the delicious currents of electricity through him. He was so lost in the spectacular feeling that he didn't even notice the blond's struggles were becoming weaker. It wasn't until he had seen the Slytherin's pale lashes flutter over dulling grey eyes that Harry realized what he was doing.

Suddenly he was letting go and watching the other's long body slump to the floor, coughing and sputtering disturbing the eerie silence.

"Oh god, are you all right, god I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the dark haired wizard apologised frantically, looking at his hands as if they didn't belong to him.

Once Malfoy seemed to have his breathing in control he glared up at the Harry, straightening unsteadily to his feet, Harry immediately moved to help steady him.

The other flinched from the touch, "Don't! don't you dare touch me." The blond rasped.

Harry appalled that their fear in the other's eyes, felt his stomach drop. "Malfoy, I'm so sorry, I… I don't know what happened, I…" the boy started earnestly but trailed off, not knowing how to explain.

Draco stared suspiciously at his nemesis's despairing tone, his hands cradled his abused neck. Those green eyes seemed so desolate, that the blond couldn't help but believe that the Gryffindor meant what he said. He relaxed a bit.

After a long moment, the Slytherin huffed a breath; he seemed to take in their surrounding for a while, then turned slowly and started to walk away.

"Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed catching the other's shoulder. The blond didn't flinch away this time, merely turned to look inquiringly at the hand that held him so gently.

"Where are you… going?" Harry asked a bit awkwardly.

Malfoy took one last look at the restraining hand then looked at the-Boy-Who-Lived and said, "I'm sure you can finish up here by you self?" he raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as if daring the other to contradict him.

Harry didn't, he just let his hand drop from the other boy's shoulder and watched as the blond walked form the room.

After a minute he sighed, turned and started to pick up the objects that were shattered all over the floor, he noted miserably that the empty feeling in his chest seemed to gape wider than ever.

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I CAN'T TELL TO HOW MUCH I WANTED TO TURN THAT LAST FIGHT SCENE INTO A LEMON!!!

And if that me then I know you guy are getting impatient! Soon, I promise, soon. *Grins*

It's proven that reviews help you type faster. Grins.

-wingedstranger