Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Tangled.
My brain is fried. Gawd.
Draco stared at the ground below, suddenly unsure whether or not he really should go see the lights. He brushed a slender hand over a strand of hair and stared at it as if it would give him an answer to all his problems. Salazar hissed encouragingly and pointed down towards the ground.
"You coming, Blondie?" Harry's voice yelled from below. "We best get a move on; the faster we do this the faster we can go our separate ways."
Draco sighed and tied his hair on the hook. Glancing nervously at Salazar, Draco jumped. The blonde clutched his hair tightly, laughing as the world blurred around him as he hurtled down towards the ground. His grey eyes beamed with happiness and freedom but a moment too soon, he came to an abrupt halt. Silence reigned for a moment before a small gasp of awe sounded out.
"Salazar, look…" Wide grey eyes stared at the inviting green grass that was stretched out in front of him only a few centimetres away. Draco cautiously lowered a foot down onto the lush green carpet and giggled.
"Grass… I can't believe it! Grass!" The blond squealed and leapt down onto the grass with two feet. Salazar flicked his tongue out in amusement at his owner, who was currently rolling around on the grass in a most undignified manner.
"I can't believe it, Sal! This feels so… amazing!" Draco gasped breathlessly. He stood up and stared at the sky in awe. "Mother would kill me if she saw what me right now." He murmured. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
"Well then, let's go back up your tower!" Harry beamed, startling Draco. "You can give me back my satchel and we can pretend this whole thing never happened. Don't worry your mother, Blondie. Better be safe in your home than going on a perilous journey to see some silly lanterns, eh?"
Draco glared at the thief fiercely. "No, I'm going. This is a chance of a lifetime and I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers." He tapped the frying pan with a small hand. "Besides, I can take care of myself. I knocked you out twice, remember?"
"Don't remind me." Harry scowled. "It's really surprising, though. Someone as small and skinny as you managed to knock out such a muscular man with a frying pan."
"Or maybe you're just a delicate little flower." Draco smirked. Salazar sighed in exasperation and curled up on Draco's shoulder. 'This is going to be a long trip', he thought.
Harry was tired. Annoyed. Angry. And definitely fed up. His stupid blonde charge ran around in all directions, leaving him to panic as he desperately tries to find the other boy. And now said boy was skipping along with him, chattering about the sky, the birds, the air, blah, blah, blah. Never before had Harry felt such a strong urge to strangle somebody.
"-Mother told me birds were savage beasts and would attack anything. She said they sang sweetly to lure in victims but I haven't seen a single bird attack us. Do you think she was lying or over-exaggerating?"
Before Harry could reply, Draco was already jabbering on about something else. "And then there was the time when I asked her about squirrels and all that. Mother said they had this poison which would kill you really slowly and painfully. Is that true? Have you ever encountered one before?"
Harry wanted to snarl back that there was nothing poisonous about squirrels and the worse thing they could give you was rabies when he was interrupted by a rustling sound in the bushes.
"W-what was that?" Draco squealed and leapt onto Harry's back, crossing his long, milky legs across his waist. Harry felt rather troubled. He was actually enjoying the feel of the maniac blonde's legs and that bothered him. Shouldn't he be feeling uncomfortable?
"Relax, Blondie. It's just a rabbit." He sighed as a brown rabbit hopped out of the bushes. He felt the blonde slowly get down to the ground again hesitantly.
"O-oh. I guess I must be kinda… nervous about this whole thing?" Draco giggled, trying to regain some of his dignity. Salazar groaned and planted his tail onto his face in his version of a facepalm.
"Whatever." Harry grunted. Draco laughed softly and twiddled his frying pan nervously.
"I was just glad that it wasn't a thug," Draco shuddered. "Oh, if I met a thug, I'd run home in a heartbeat. Mother said described them to me. Over-muscled brutes who loved killing anything, bloodthirsty personalities, and sharp teeth, too! Mother said they were cannibals. Oh how I'd hate to meet one."
Harry was slowly smiling as a plan started to formulate in his mind. "If you met a thug, you would run home?" He asked slowly, staring intently at the petite blonde's face.
"Yes," Draco shuddered, "but I know you wouldn't be scared of some ugly brute. That's why I asked you to help me see the lights." Draco smiled. "I trust you, after all."
"Excellent," Harry practically purred. "Hey, are you hungry? I am. There's a neat little inn about ten minutes' walk away. Wanna go?"
"No thugs?" Draco asked anxiously.
"No thugs." Harry promised.
"What's it called?" Draco asked. "It doesn't have some bloodthirsty name, does it?"
"It's called the 'Snuggly Duckling'." Harry smiled charmingly. "Nothing to worry about. You like ducklings, don't you?"
"Of course." Draco smiled back. "I see them in the pond back at the tower. How could they hurt anyone?"
"Exactly." Harry smirked.
Buckbeak was not having a good day. First he let the stupid thief escape. With the crown. And now he was lost. Still stewing over the days' events, he almost didn't notice the footsteps coming closer to him. Almost. The large hippogriff leapt behind some bushes and waited. It had to be the thief.
Harry Potter. The most annoying burglar the land of Slytherin had ever encountered. He had escaped the guards every time. And now he was walking into the path of the best hippogriff in the kingdom.
Buckbeak let out an enraged screech and launched himself out of his hiding place, landing in front of a woman with curly black hair. The woman shrieked and fell backwards, dropping her basket and the contents of it. For a moment there was no sound and Buckbeak finally realized that he had surprised the wrong person. Drooping his wings in embarrassment, he sat down on his haunches grumbling angrily.
"Oh," Bellatrix sighed. "It's just a castle hippogriff." She stared at the badge on the hippogriff's chest and stiffened in shock. Buckbeak. That was the name of the Captain's hippogriff. And if the Captain was in the forest, then that meant he was searching for something. Something like… Draco.
Gasping in horror, Bellatrix quickly gathered her fallen items and ran in the direction of the tower, leaving a very confused Buckbeak to stare at her retreating back.
"Oh dear, oh dear..." Bellatrix whispered as she ran. Her precious little child, about to be returned to his real mother. She would be found out and thrown into prison, where she would rot. This was not how she planned. She would raise Draco and eventually return him to the kingdom. Of course, he would trust Bellatrix more than his own mother and would listen to her advice instead. That way, Bellatrix could indirectly rule the kingdom herself. She did love Draco, but power overruled all the love and admiration for the child.
Bellatrix reached the foot of the tower and called out desperately for her 'son'.
"Draco? Let down your hair!"
There was no reply and Bellatrix was getting increasingly worried.
"Draco?!"
Making up her mind, she dove for the secret entrance at the base of the tower and started to frantically tear out bricks. Bellatrix sprinted up the hidden set of stairs up towards Draco's room. She found nothing. Sobbing despairingly, Bellatrix gazed around the room when a small glint of light captured her attention. There was something hidden underneath the floorboards. She slowly got up and pried them to the side. A crown. Draco's crown. Part of it was sticking out of the flap of a brown satchel.
"Who…?" Bellatrix murmured and grabbed the satchel. There was a name on the corner of it. Harry Potter. Rage filled her entire being and she screamed as if she had been burnt. Harry Potter. He had stolen her precious little boy and was going to give him back to the kingdom so he could claim a reward.
"But not if I could help it." Bellatrix whispered angrily. She stuffed the satchel into her basket and threw open a drawer on the other end of the room. A dagger was hidden in it. Draco hadn't known that she had smuggled a dagger into his room so she could use it whenever there was a… disagreement. You can't track a murderer if you can't find the weapon, after all.
And now the dagger was going to be used again. Bellatrix tested its sharpness with a satisfied smirk. Yes, Harry Potter was going to pay.
Aaaand… we're done! Honestly, I squeeze out so much brain juice for such a short chapter. Gah.