THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

Disclaimer - I do not own the setting of Harry Potter or any of the characters; those are the property of J.K. Rowling. I have however added a few new names, given that this story is centered on the time after Harry and Draco have graduated. The plot is entirely mine.

This story is a male x male slash so please don't read it if you don't like to read these types of fanfics.

Key:

"Thoughts"

"Speech"

~Parseltongue~

Chapter 15: To Play with Fire (Draco)

The one thing Draco hadn't expected when he was shaken awake was a changed Harry with a very intimidating aura. He knew nothing had visibly changed, but a deep survival instinct insisted on the fact that Harry had somehow gotten a lot stronger between the time he had fallen asleep and then got woken up.

He knew Harry always did the unpredictable, but this was just outrageous. He didn't even know how to categorize it on that chart, he only knew that it was placed on the top. Draco sat up and groggily glanced at Harry, but Harry's words about his familiar were soon recognized. In all honesty, he had known that his parents had been keeping something from him, but he'd never bothered to ask since they always gave him whatever he wanted.

It didn't take long for him to realize that something had been missing though. When he met the 'great' Harry Potter, he had believed that the only thing that could cure him of his strange feelings of loneliness were if he could become the hero's friend.

It would not surprise anyone to know that it hadn't worked, but he was glad they had the chance to be friends now…maybe more. He saw Blaine creeping into Harry's lap and he was really surprised when he felt that their connection had deepened and it only took an instant for Draco to realize that Harry had been able to complete the familiar bond with a basilisk. A part of him wanted to jump up and shriek in outrage.

How did Harry manage these things? He always got what he wanted… well actually he had to admit that Harry always got what Draco wanted without even trying. He wasn't jealous or anything, but Harry easily demolished the bar that had been set for what was normal and what was not.

He looked up at Harry and saw an eyebrow raised in question. Oh… right. Harry was still waiting to see if he believed him or not. "Yes, I believe you, although I must admit that I will only truly believe it once I see it. I knew my parents had been keeping something from me, but I never bothered to find out what it was. Are we going to sneak out tomorrow and see?"

Draco knew it wasn't the one-time Gryffindor's style to wait so he mentally readied himself to get out of bed at what seemed to be an insane hour deep into the night. Truth be told, he didn't want to wait till tomorrow, but pure-bloods were never supposed to reveal when they really wanted something. It made it all too easy for someone to use the knowledge against them.

He knew he didn't need to act like that in front of Harry, but habits are hard to break. Luckily Harry knew him well enough by now, so he simply went over to his wardrobe and started getting dressed. Draco followed his example and it wasn't long before they were ready to go. Harry left his familiars in the dorm room since they would probably get spotted easily with them around. Draco had to hide his laugh behind a cough as both seemed to lecture Harry on staying safe in their own languages. It seemed like Draco wasn't the only one that knew about the man's addiction to danger.

Both of them kept a shrunken broom in their trunks for in-case and Draco was relieved that they were finally going to be able to use them. He loved flying, but masquerading as a first-year meant that they weren't allowed to fly on brooms yet, even though most pure-blood families trained their children to fly almost as soon as they could walk. The tradition only required toy brooms with cushioning charms and a spell that forced the brooms to stay close to the ground.

They snuck out under the invisibility cloak towards the astronomy tower. None of the students knew this, but the tower was one of the few places in Hogwarts that weren't really monitored. It was one of the reasons why so many people decided to have their romantic conquests there since their magic simply sensed that it was safe to do so. Draco knew that they would be able to fly from the tower without alerting anyone to their departure.

It wasn't long before they were in the air and Draco had to stifle his laughter with a smirk as he raced Harry. Old habits really die hard Draco mused again as they increased their speeds. Both of them had a strong competitive streak and Draco was happy to see that Harry hadn't lost his. The sight of an incoming storm, barely registered to them as they flew into the clouds and into the atmosphere above them.

Of course, in retrospect, they should have monitored the extra magic power they had gained because it wasn't long before their brooms dived without warning. Draco felt panic overwhelm him as he realized that the broom in his hands was completely exhausted of any magic power it had moments ago. This meant that he had used more magic power than the broom had been able to absorb. He glanced to the side and saw that Harry was stuck in the same situation. When Draco reached for his wand it slipped from his hand as it hooked onto his cloak as he tried to pull it out.

Draco felt pure fear grab hold of him as they plummeted towards the ground. He reached to the side to grab onto his partner, hoping that he would at least be able to protect Harry from most of the impact. He wasn't used to employing Gryffindor attributes, but he couldn't imagine a world without Harry in it.

It was a great idea and all, but Draco's eyes snapped open as he realized that he didn't feel Harry next to him anymore. His eyes confirmed his fears and he felt a feeling of dread shudder through him. Where did Harry go? A phoenix cry echoed through the skies and Draco thought that Leah must have rescued him.

Draco only hoped that she would rescue him as well even though the idea seemed slightly absurd. He was still hoping to be saved as his abrupt fall came to a quick stop though. Draco felt himself land on the back of something soft. The impact made him instinctively close his eyes, but once he was sure that he wasn't falling anymore, Draco opened his eyes.

He couldn't hold back the gasp of surprise as he realized that he saw nothing underneath him and the only explanation, other than the fact that maybe the creature was invisible, was the thought that the entire creature seemed to be covered in pitch-black feathers.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky near them and Draco saw that he was sitting on a huge bird. His relief was short-lived, however, as he suddenly realized that Harry wasn't on the giant creature with him. "Hey, we need to go back! Harry is still falling! We need to save him!"

Seconds ticked by, but the bird refused to change its course. Draco felt tears prick at the back of his eyelids, but he willed them away. He refused to leave Harry back there and if he had to force the giant bird to go back and help him, then so be it. It took him a few moments before he realized that he could hear Harry's voice.

"Why Draco, I didn't know you cared about me that much." Draco feared that he was losing his mind because of shock as he glanced around frantically trying to find the source of Harry's voice. It took him another moment to realize that the voice was actually coming from the bird, but his mind simply refused to believe it.

"Well you better believe it otherwise I will drop you. Didn't you know phoenixes can read minds? It turns out they can speak telepathically as well. But, I will probably be in big trouble with Leah for revealing this to you without asking her permission first." He felt the phoenix beneath him chuckle at the thought.

Yep, either he was losing his mind, or Harry was really transformed into the bird beneath him at the moment and he was speaking to him through telepathy. But wizards and witches shouldn't be able to transform into legendary creatures. That was a reason why they were called legendary, nothing and no one is supposed to be able to mimic their powers.

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head. Trust the bloody Golden Boy to destroy the legends of their kind piece-by-piece. Draco felt himself growl in good-natured annoyance. Year after year Harry had been able to pull off incredible stunts and he always got out alive, Draco really wondered where he got his luck from. But he wasn't willing to believe that the bird was Harry, just because of words alone.

"Okay, if you really are Harry, then tell me what I was trying to do the year Dumbledore died." He knew it was a sore subject, but only Harry would know what had been happening throughout most of that year. And in the present circumstances, he really needed to figure out what was going on.

"The year that conniving old man died, you were trying to find a way to get most of the Death Eaters into the castle without tripping the wards. It was also the year I found the Half-blood Prince's potions book and used that spell on you, when I didn't know what it was actually going to do." Draco could hear that Harry had become resigned at the question, but he refused to feel sorry for asking since it proved that Harry had truly transformed into a shadow phoenix.

"I told you I have forgiven you for that. I just wanted to make sure that you were actually who you said you were since I wouldn't know what I would do if I had lost you back there. Now would you kindly explain to me why you are a shadow phoenix when your familiar is clearly a light phoenix? I have read enough books to learn about true familiar bonds and as far as I know, the wizard usually is affiliated the same way as their familiar. Besides that, there hasn't been a shadow phoenix on this plane since they retreated back into the nether realm. The fact that shadow phoenixes were able to change their size in certain situations made them even more dangerous." He mentally heard a huff as Harry contemplated his words before glancing at his feathered body.

Since the bond had probably only been completed tonight, Draco couldn't fault Harry for glancing around in shock at the news, but the realization that he had dropped his wand when they had fallen, made him suddenly panic and he didn't give Harry time to answer him back. "Harry I dropped my wand back there! We have to go back... "

Draco didn't manage to get any further as his wand was thrust into his hands. He looked down and saw that Harry had it in his beak the entire time. "To answer your question on why I look different from my familiar, I think it's because my magic became darker the longer I was a Horcrux and it didn't help that I had to use many dark spells during the war. The change kind of cemented my affiliation with most types of magic and that's why I can do dark magic without the threat of a backlash."

Draco wanted to comment that it must feel great to be able to do that, but he realized through common sense that Harry had to give up most of his emotions in the process. In a way, it was a good thing, but living without emotions also meant that even though Harry might not be able to completely feel sadness or fear anymore, he was also probably unable to feel any or much happiness.

It saddened him, but he refused to tell Harry that. The man hated to be pitied and instead, Draco just promised himself that he would support him. If he couldn't feel then Draco would feel for him. The idea practically made Draco blush and he realized that he was acting extremely possessive. Their kiss had really scrambled his brain cells and he ached to repeat the memory whenever he was around Harry.

The sound of a deep growl tore through his mind and Draco was barely able to catch the strangled call for help before it was cut off. Instinct told him that he was hearing his familiar's call through Harry and he held on tighter. Harry seemed to feel the urgency of his grip because he picked up speed and raced towards Malfoy Manor.

Due to the speed at which they were flying, it didn't take them long to reach the manor and Draco felt relieved when the wards allowed Harry to pass due to his presence. Draco and Harry immediately headed towards the unused wing of the manor, where the cries were coming from.

Draco jumped off as soon as Harry touched the ground and he barely gave Harry enough time to transform back before they were heading towards the basement. Draco had once been able to find it when he was little, but his parents had been able to find him before he had opened the door.

He knew beyond any doubt that his familiar was there as he tore the door open. The strength of the energy inside broke the blocks on his mind and because he was the Malfoy heir, it released the creature inside at the same time. A pained cry was torn from both of them as the shields and chains broke down and Draco found himself tackled by a mass of scales.

His breath escaped him as his shock finally subsided and he openly gaped at the small Dreq now curled up on his chest. He wondered if Harry's luck had decided to rub off on him as he looked closely at the dragon. In a way, he almost had to smirk at the thought that another name for a Dreq was Draco, but he was still too frozen to be able to fully take in the situation. It was only by luck that he actually realized what his familiar was. If the name hadn't caught his attention during his studies, he might have thought that his familiar was a normal dragon.

Instead, he immediately recognized the black opal gem that was situated on the dragon's forehead and he was left frozen in wonder. Dreq's weren't supposed to exist anymore because wizards hunted them down for the rare gemstones they carried on their foreheads. The rarer a gemstone was the higher rank the Dreq had in its wyer.

Draco could easily determine by the black opal that his familiar would probably be equivalent to an alpha dragon if Dreq wyers were still around. His admiration was cut short though as a sudden cut on his hand made him yelp in pain. The little Dreq unceremoniously cut into its own palm with its nail as well and placed its wound against Draco's.

His mind calmed him as he realized that the Dreq was sealing the blood-bond with him and the power he felt surging around them, confirmed it. Harry must have placed a barrier around them, Draco thought vaguely as he realized that the energy never made it past a certain point.

Once the atmosphere settled around them, Draco realized that the Dreq seemed to be growing. An amused voice entered his thoughts as he contemplated this. "Thank you for coming. I didn't know if I would have been able to hold on much longer. I assume your friend had something to do with the fact that you were finally able to hear me?" Draco nodded and the amused voice continued.

"Thank him for me would you? And I have to point out that I am a fully grown Dreq. The only reason that I was this small was because I was cut off from your magic. Since we are finally connected, I can return to my true form. That is unless you prefer this current form?" The dragon shifted around, waiting eagerly for his answer.

Finally, Draco was able to pull out of his numbed state and he was able to find his voice. "Yes, my friend helped me to get here. Are you able to change your size at will? I realize that you seem to be the alpha in your group, but I don't think there are more of you anymore. Your kind is supposed to have been hunted to extinction so how were you able to find me and what should I call you?"

The Dreq contemplated for a while before he answered. "You can call me Cyan. I can change my size when I need to and I am fully aware that I am an alpha without a wyer. I stayed in my egg until it was time to find you since I knew that it would be dangerous if I ventured out of it any earlier. I thought I would receive a warm welcome from your parents when I finally revealed myself, but as you can see that did not happen. Your parents seemed to forget about me as time passed and I reverted to my newborn state in order to conserve energy."

Draco nodded to Cyan to show that he understood and then he grimaced. He glanced at both Harry and then Cyan as he spoke. "We should probably get out of here. My mother rarely comes back to the manor, but I can sense her. I may be the owner of the manor, but I don't feel like meeting her until she has at least some sort of explanation as to why she did this and we all know she doesn't. Besides, in our current forms, she would think that we're imposters."

Harry and Cyan nodded before they made their way out and away from the manor. Harry changed back into his phoenix form and Cyan grew big enough for Draco to be able to climb onto his back. Soon they were airborne and headed back to Hogwarts.

Extra notes:

- A Dreq is an Albanian dragon that translates into (Draco) proper. According to Wikipedia "it was demonized by Christianity and now is one of the Albanian names of the devil." - I chose the name since it was really interesting to see that it shared the same name as Draco. Since I couldn't find anything about how these dragon variants look like, I decided to create one.

- A wyer is a group of dragons. People also call a group of dragons many other names like a flight of dragons or a wing of dragons, but this one suited me best.

Thank you for the review leopardblack, I was kind of stuck in the storyline, but your review had me so excited that I just had to write on! Thank you to those who are following this story, I am thinking of working on another story while I continue this one, so I will probably start posting it one of these days when I am finally happy with the storyline…