Hi people. As usual, I do not own Harry Potter or Tangled.
Just had my midterms, yay! It was horrible. But I scored an 88% in English. YAAAAAY! My brain is fried so this chapter would probably be my worst.
"Shoot is right," Captain Riddle sneered. "If you think you can run off with the prince's crown, you're sorely mistaken."
Buckbeak reared in agreement. Harry gulped and backed away, bumping into a tree.
"Hey now," he coughed nervously, "let's not be so hasty. I'm sure we can work something out." Captain Riddle snorted, which really was an ugly sound, and scoffed, "Yes, well, the only thing we are going to work out is the sum of you plus dungeons equals," Here he drew a line across his neck with his pointer finger, "-this."
"Have I mentioned that I went to church the other day?" Harry smiled nervously, "The priest was talking about how people should be given second chances. Don't you think we should carry that out?"
Riddle stared at him for a few moments with a disbelieving gaze. "Second… chance? Second chance?!"
Harry winced at the loud shout and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the Captain. "Second chance?! Ha! Potter, you've already been given plenty of chances and you sure as hell won't get another! Buckbeak, catch this filthy bandit!"
Buckbeak reared and galloped towards Harry, who turned tail and sprinted as hard as he could. He leapt over a log, which Buckbeak stumbled over, flinging Riddle off in the process. Buckbeak didn't stop. He ran, front feet digging into the ground with vicious talons, eager to rip his prey apart. Harry knew that of course, and was hurtling through the bushes as fast as he could.
"Oh crap."
That was the last thing Harry said as he suddenly found himself standing at the very edge of a cliff. The bushes had led him to nowhere. Harry swore angrily and clutched his satchel protectively to his chest.
"Jump and risk getting killed or stay here and risk getting killed by an angry hippogriff… Hmmm…" Harry mumbled, tapping his chin. Unfortunately, he wasn't given any choice because Buckbeak exploded out from the bushes behind him and pounced.
"You stupid bird! Can't you see we're near a… cliff?" Harry glanced behind him and nearly wet himself. He. Was. Falling.
"ARGHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he hurtled towards the green forest below. Buckbeak shrieked wildly, frantically flapping his wings with no result. The treetops were much closer than before and Buckbeak, in his desperation, managed to fly up towards the sky, leaving only Harry falling.
"STUPID BIRD!" He shrieked before he slammed down onto the ground below. The bird stopped chirping as they stared at the figure which had fallen from the sky. One gave a timid chirp and the others followed, deciding to ignore the strange occurrence.
Harry groaned and lifted himself up. Surprisingly all his bones had remained intact and the most he got was a few bruises and scrapes from running through the forest. A shriek sounded out through the air and Harry's eyes widened. The hippogriff was still on his tail. Harry bolted as a large shadow swooped over the trees near him.
"I need a hiding place," he hissed to himself, desperately looking around the clearing he had stopped at. Sighing, Harry leant against a wall covered in ivy, which really wasn't a wall after all, as he found out as when stumbled onto the other side of the leafy curtain. He sat there on his ass like an idiot before his mind registered what had happened. Then he smiled.
"Ah, the Gods must be feeling generous today." Harry grinned as he heard Buckbeak's angry screech when he couldn't find the thief. Harry turned around and slowly gaped as his green eyes came in contact with the tallest tower he had ever seen.
"What the…" He stuttered, moving closer to the impressive tower. He circled it slowly and found a window on the other side.
"I could hide my satchel up there," Harry spoke, realization dawning on him. "Then I could find a buyer, and if I get caught, they would have no proof against me! I'm a genius!" He whooped and danced around like a madman. "Yes! Then I'll be the richest person alive! Haha, you've done it this time, Harry!" Still grinning, he dug two daggers into the faded grey bricks. "Who built this tower, anyway? Nobody would want to live here…"
"Salazar, I'm really bored." Draco sighed; unaware of the man that was currently climbing his tower. "I mean, there's nothing else to do. I've painted, baked, played chess ten times and now I'm just… sick of it all. Oh god, I'm sounding really ungrateful right now, am I?"
Salazar hissed and pointed to the window.
"You know I can't, Sal. Besides, I like it here and so do you." At the snake's skeptical look, Draco sighed. "Okay, okay. I do want to get out of here." He admitted, staring at the cloudless sky.
"Come on Harry, just a few more metres…" A strained voice came from below the window. Gasping, Draco ran to the opposite side of the room, fearfully staring at the window. A frying pan he had left out to dry was hanging on a hook near him, so Draco grabbed it and stepped cautiously over to the direction of the window. A hand suddenly appeared and Draco nearly screamed. The tanned hand gripped the edge and a man heaved himself up into the room of the tower. He hadn't seen Draco yet.
"Whew." The man sighed and brushed sweaty black locks away from his face. He stared around the room, nodding to himself. "Huh, nice place. Would've thought it would be a lot dustier." He muttered. Draco couldn't take it anymore. He shrieked and slammed the frying pan over the man's head, effectively knocking him out.
There was no noise except for the distant chirping of birds and Draco's harsh pants for breath. Salazar was motionless, too shocked to do anything. But after a few moments, he finally let out an imploring hiss.
"There… there's a man in my tower. There's a man in my tower!" Draco squealed. "I'm not helpless, Sal! I knocked out a man!" He rejoiced for a few more minutes before sobering down to get a good look at his victim.
"Oh, Sal. He really is quite handsome." Draco breathed as he studied the large tanned body of the man. He was tall. Much taller than Draco. Maybe a head or so taller. Draco leaned in and stared at the man's face. He had a firm jaw, Draco noted, and high cheekbones. Draco carefully used the handle of the frying pan to lift up the man's upper lip, revealing white teeth.
"No fangs," he whispered to Salazar, "He has normal teeth like me." Summoning up his courage, Draco peered closer at the man's face. He stood there mesmerized for a moment until one emerald green eye flicked open. Shrieking, Draco brought the pan upon the man's head a second time.
A silent moment passed and the intruder was once again unconscious. Draco sucked in a deep breath and heaved the man onto a chair before tying his hands and legs.
Gulping, Draco gave an uncertain glance at Salazar and whispered softly, "I… I think I know how we can go see the lights and get back here safely. And the answer's right here." He pointed at the raven-haired man tied to the chair by golden locks of hair. Draco sighed and smoothed out his pink and purple dress. (A/N: Yes, Draco is wearing a dress. And probably will for the rest of his life in the series. Mwahahahaha)
Draco glanced down and saw a satchel that the man had probably dropped. The blond picked it up and slowly opened it, reaching in and bringing out a… piece of jewellery?
Frowning, Draco placed it over his wrist and glanced at Salazar, eyes asking for confirmation. Salazar hissed and shook his head. Draco sighed and took it off, staring at the jewels for a moment before an idea struck his brain. He slowly placed the crown on his head and twirled around, staring into his reflection in the mirror behind him. It… felt right. Like it belonged there in the first place.
A groan from the man interrupted Draco's train of thoughts and he gasped, quickly shoving the crow back into the satchel and stuffing it into the gap underneath a loose floorboard. Perfect.
Draco quickly scooped Salazar onto his shoulder and hurried over to the opposite side of the room, carefully watching the intruder.
Harry groaned. He had a splitting headache and felt like he had the worst hangover in the world. What had happened? All he remembered was running away from Riddle and Buckbeak, then falling off a cliff and climbing a tower to hide the prince's…
"Crown!" He yelled, startling Draco and Salazar. Harry frantically searched the room, trying to locate his satchel. He tried to run over to the window sill where he had left it but found he was unable to move. He glanced down and his eyes widened.
"Hey, this isn't rope," Harry muttered, studying his bonds carefully. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was… hair?" He gasped. "Oh well, better cut it."
"NO!" A voice screamed frantically and a small figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Don't you dare cut it!" The angry voice screeched, "Don't you dare!"
Harry winced and stared at the fuming figure before his breath caught. This was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Or was it a boy? The lack of chest suggested so but that was all right, really. Harry swung both ways. The boy was short and petite; his slim figure did nothing to intimidate Harry. He had wide grey eyes that showed a little fear but mostly determination. He had a sweet heart-shaped face and a delicate nose which led down to a slightly pointy chin that Harry thought was the most endearing thing he had ever seen. His golden hair cascaded down his back like spun gold and was wounded all around the room like a river. All in all, this beautiful creature was definitely Harry's type.
"Hello there, how're you doing?" He asked, giving a sultry grin. The boy stared at him with confusion which slowly morphed into anger.
"You intrude my home and the first thing you say to me is 'how are you doing'?!" He snapped angrily, glaring at Harry with his pretty silvery eyes. The thief didn't think it was scary at all, in fact, he thought it was just plain sexy.
"Yeah," He smirked cockily. "So babe, you wanna do it at my place or mine?" The boy faltered and looked once again, confused.
"Do what?" He asked innocently, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Harry choked back his laughter and opted to smirk instead. The boy sighed impatiently.
"Okay, look, I want to strike a deal with you." He growled, staring at Harry with hardened silver-grey eyes.
"What kind of deal?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. The boy bit his plump, pink lip and stared at a little green snake that Harry had never noticed was there.
"D-do you recognize these lights?" He asked breathlessly, drawing a curtain off the side of a wall. Harry scrutinized the painting that was hidden behind the curtain carefully and nodded. The picture really was beautiful. A dark night sky with glowing paintings of lanterns floating. There was also a person with long golden hair, which Harry assumed was the boy himself.
"Those are the lanterns the Kingdom of Slytherin send out each year on the missing prince's birthday, right?" He asked. Harry didn't know how this boy possibly couldn't know about the tradition. Even all the other kingdoms know of it.
"Lanterns… so they really aren't stars!" The boy squealed happily, laughing in delight. "Here that, Sal? Mother was wrong! They aren't stars!"
The little green snake hissed gently and had a pleased look on his face.
"So, um, about that deal?" Harry asked, interrupting the boy's happiness.
"Oh, right. Um… I want you to take us," The boy pointed at the snake and himself, "to see the lanterns and in return I give you back your satchel."
"My satchel?! You have my satchel?!" Harry yelled. He had completely forgotten about the satchel when he laid his eyes on the blond beauty, who was currently fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Um, yes." Said beauty stuttered. "Please? Mother told me that the world was horrible out there and… and well, you've probably had a lot of experience so I was hoping you'd take us."
Harry took a deep breath and eyed the boy wearily.
"You'll give me my satchel when we return back here?"
A nod.
"You promise?"
Another nod.
"Have you ever broken a promise?"
A shake of the head.
"You're sure I can trust you?"
A nod.
"…Fine."
"Thank you!" The boy squealed, throwing his arms around Harry's strong, tanned neck. The snake gave a little happy hiss but glared at Harry with a guarded look. Harry ignored it and instead leaned into the blonde's embrace.
"By the way, I never caught your name…" The boy whispered into Harry's ear. Harry shivered as warm air ghosted against his ear and he caught a whiff of freshly baked cookies and groaned softly.
"Harry, it's Harry."
"That's my snake, he's called Salazar."
"And what about you?"
There was a brief pause before silver eyes met emerald.
"I'm Draco."
Yusss, I'm finally done. My fingers hurt now. Review, you know you want to.
~Syntrex