Unlikely Beginnings

This time when Harry was startled out of his dreams, it was enough to make him sit up in panic and pain, clutching at his forehead, hand over his scar. His movement was abrupt enough to shake the bed and wake Draco, who barely took a moment to have his wand in hand, squinting through the dark around the room, looking for anything threatening. When Harry’s ragged breathing figured into Draco’s equation, the blond hesitantly lowered his wand and turned to the boy next to him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning as he watched Harry.

Harry swallowed, gasping as he took his hand away, releasing the comforting pressure he had been applying to his scar. “My scar,” was all Harry could get out. The pain was slowly subsiding, but not enough yet for him to say much. He knew Draco would question, not knowing what the hell he was on about.

“Your scar?” Draco asked, more of a prompt for Harry to continue, and he wondered if Harry had finally lost his mind.

“It hurts,” he explained, “like a burning pain, deep under my skin, whenever Voldemort is near.” Harry took a deep breath, a little shaky, and lay back down on the bed to try and relax. Draco stayed sitting, watching him with concern written clearly on his face, waiting for more. “It started a few years ago; I started having dreams, seeing things, and it turned out what I was seeing was what Voldemort was doing, who he was talking to, sometimes even what he was thinking. When he gave me this scar, we got linked somehow.

“Professor Dumbledore ordered Snape to start giving me Occlumency lessons, but we couldn’t put our feelings aside enough to gain any ground on the subject. The scary part was when Voldemort learned to use the connection to his advantage, and give me dreams on purpose. The lessons were to block him out, but I couldn’t do it. He would put thoughts and dreams in my head to get me riled up, to make me do things I would regret.”

Draco tried to take in what Harry was saying; he had no idea something like that could have been happening between Harry and the Dark Lord. He couldn’t even imagine someone controlling his thoughts like that, without even the Imperius Curse, but it didn’t even compare. The people affected by the Imperius knew that they weren’t acting on their own, they were conscious of what they were doing, whether they wanted to do it or not. If it were him in Harry’s place, he would have gone mad. Harry looked miserable, and he was quiet. He wasn’t going to talk anymore, so Draco decided to try and get his mind off of whatever was bothering him now.

“Well,” he said, “we’ll be arriving at Durmstrang the day after tomorrow.” Apparently he couldn’t get his mind off things that weren’t pleasant either, and from the blank look on Harry’s face, the blond knew he’d put his foot in his mouth.

“Yeah,” was all Harry had to say in response. He tossed the sheets to the side and got out of bed. He didn’t have anything else to say, and even if he did, he didn’t think he’d say it. He couldn’t even blame his mood on Draco, since Harry had brought it up himself. He grabbed their bag and started shuffling through it, things knocking against one another inside.

Draco sighed to himself, watching Harry, who was clearly in a snit now, instead of the sadness that had surrounded him a few moments before. They couldn’t very well Apparate to Lena if Harry’s mind was elsewhere. No one liked being splinched on a good day, and Draco had an almost sickening thought that Harry may end up in Lena, but their baby might not. He may not have been overly thrilled at his role as a father, but over the last fortnight, he’d almost had time to get used to the idea. He watched Harry stalk into the bathroom, slamming the door angrily behind him. Draco pushed the sheets off his legs, the sheets were doubled because Harry had thrown his right over onto Draco, and took off his underwear, leaving them on the floor.

The water was already started, and Draco made his way to the bathroom, opening the door quietly. Harry was in the shower, steam from the hot water was already filling the room, creating a silhouette of the Gryffindor on the curtain that Draco watched with interest. Draco ran a hand through his hair, taking a moment to ponder his actions before he gently pulled back the curtain as quietly as he could. Harry had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn’t noticed Draco come in the bathroom at all, let alone pull back the curtain. He only managed to have time to turn around before he was pushed against the cool tiles of the shower wall. The Slytherin’s hands rested on the wall, effectively pinning Harry in place as he kissed him deeply. Harry didn’t know what had drawn Draco into the shower with him, but he felt himself and his nerves relax as Draco’s tongue began to explore.

Harry didn’t know if Draco would ever stop, not that he wanted him to, and he barely noticed when Draco pulled away and began kissing down his neck, stopping to suck where his neck met his shoulder, making Harry gasp. Harry inhaled too sharply again, coughing when water from the shower spray entered his mouth, when Draco continued his way down, sliding to his knees. Harry just stared down at Draco, barely able to comprehend what was to come next. He wanted to watch, but the next thing he knew, his head was thrown back, hitting the tiles with a thud while he moaned deep in his throat. The hot water of the shower was nothing compared to the heat of Draco’s mouth around his cock.

Draco moved his head along Harry’s swollen cock, humming occasionally as he swallowed excess saliva, which made Harry almost choke him by thrusting forward at the vibrating sensation on the sensitive skin. His knees felt like buckling, but he let his hands tighten in Draco’s wet hair, not even aware he had moved his hands to the blond’s head in the first place. Draco knew that Harry was close to getting off, and he picked up the pace, which startled Harry into dropping his hands, which he then balled into fists and pressed them back against the shower wall.

“I’m going to come,” Harry gasped out in warning, but Draco certainly knew that and ignored him, continuing until Harry cried out. His knees finally gave out, and he would have fallen forward if not for Draco holding him in place as he came hard inside the blond’s mouth. Harry barely had time to catch his breath before he was turned to face the tiles. He suddenly felt two fingers on his hole for only a moment before they were pushed into his body. Draco didn’t spend much time with that, impatient for his own release, and he let Harry’s come out of his mouth to drip down onto his palm, rubbing it over his swollen head before pushing his cock into the other boy.

Harry cried out again at the intrusion, moaning as he felt the blond pull back out. His body was so relaxed that it gave no resistance to Draco’s movements, his cock sliding in and out easily, pleasuring them both. Draco felt Harry’s knees shake and he put his hands higher on the wall, and pulled Harry’s hands into his own, lacing their fingers before resting their combined fists on the wall for more stability. Harry continued to moan as each thrust of Draco’s hips made his cock hit Harry’s prostate. His head fell to the side when he felt Draco run his tongue along the back of Harry’s neck, tasting the drops of water and sweat.

He wanted a free hand to wank himself as Draco fucked him, but he almost didn’t want to pull either of his hands away from their place with Draco’s, and he doubted he could have pulled them away had he tried. His erection had come back and was pressed tightly against the tiles. Draco continued to thrust hard and fast into Harry, enjoying the almost inaudible whimpers the dark-haired boy let out each time the blond’s cock was deep inside his body. Harry was going just as crazy as he had been barely five minutes earlier at the sensations and the aspect of being taken roughly in the shower while unable to touch himself. Draco moaned into the back of Harry’s neck as his cock finally emptied inside of the other boy. Standing up straight, Draco released Harry’s hands, one of which barely spared a second before it was wrapped around his cock.

The Slytherin smiled to himself as he pulled his cock slowly out of Harry’s body, and when the head of his cock slipped out, Harry groaned as he came, semen splashing the tiled wall. Draco slipped two fingers back into Harry for a moment, pushing up, pushing Harry against the wall, smearing his own come on the wall and on his body, kissing the side of Harry’s neck before getting out of the shower. Breathing hard, Harry almost collapsed, but he managed to crouch down, washing his stomach before turning the water off. He waited a moment to regain some energy before standing up, and when he opened the curtain, he barely missed catching a towel with his face when Draco tossed it to him.

A few moments later, Harry was glad the towel was covering his face as he dried his hair because he blushed when he felt another towel touch his body, and Draco continued to dry him off. He had no idea why the blond suddenly seemed keen to bestow this kind of attention on him, since he’d never displayed any inclination to do so before this point. Harry wasn’t complaining as he finished drying off, watching the blond, but it just struck him as a bit strange, but not as much as the next thing Harry failed to see coming. Draco let his damp towel drop to the floor with a dull ‘splat’ before his hands rose to pull Harry’s face close to his, kissing him again, much like he had as his greeting in the shower. Harry hadn’t realized he’d even closed his eyes when he heard the bathroom door open, steam floating out after the blond, who was no longer in sight.

He had no idea what had gotten into Draco, and took a split second to wonder if he’d been possessed; he also wondered if he actually wanted the snarky, less-caring version of his lover back. Or perhaps, it had just been something he ate, and he’d imagined the last twenty minutes of his life. Maybe he hadn’t even got out of bed and Draco was sitting there raising an eyebrow at his cock making a cute little tent out of the bed sheets. Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of his rambling thoughts. He put his underwear back on and went into the main room. Draco was already dressed, and was sitting in an armchair, picking at his nails, his eyebrows drawn together as if he were in deep thought about something. Harry got dressed quickly, wincing silently to himself when he moved a certain way that didn’t make his arse feel very good.

As soon as Harry was finished and had gathered their things into the bag, Draco stood up abruptly, grabbed the bag from Harry and headed towards the door. Harry followed after him, unsure of their plan of action, as Draco took only a second to uncharm the doorway for them to leave their room. Harry excused Draco’s silence for concentration as they walked down the hall towards the check-in desk. Draco handed the key to their room to the woman and dropped a few coins on the desk and they were on their way. They found an alley before getting ready to Apparate, making sure the area was clear of Muggles. Draco closed his eyes and Disapparated. Harry took the time by himself to sigh loudly, and it seemed to echo back at him in the small space of the alley. He closed his eyes and pictured the blond before he disappeared, too.

Harry reappeared a few feet away from Draco with his eyes still closed as a wave of nausea hit him hard. He doubled over, groaning after he’d emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. Draco was by his side now, and he knew that not because he could see the blond’s shoes, but because Draco was rubbing his back again, humming sympathetically. Even though Harry never would have thought he’d ever use that word applied to the Slytherin, he’d been proven wrong by the way the blond had been acting lately. Harry tried to spit out the remaining residue of vomit from his mouth, but the foul taste remained. He stood up and wiped at his forehead to clear the sweat from his face.

“Alright?” Draco asked, his expression still a bit blank. It almost seemed as if he’d stripped the most of his emotions away while he was thinking, and now wasn’t acting one way or the other.

Harry nodded and Draco slung the bag over his shoulder again before gesturing Harry to his side. They wandered casually along the street, glancing in shop windows and around at the folk passing by them. No one really paid them any mind, and they walked another block before they turned towards a hotel. It didn’t look too shabby at all, and Harry decided that he’d definitely have to pay Draco back the money he’d spent on this ‘trip’, especially since he didn’t have to come at all, or do anything he had done so far, which just so happened to be everything. Draco held open one of the double doors to the building and let Harry walk through. Inside, Draco looked quite familiar with the setting of the lobby and walked straight to the main desk.

Harry followed a bit slowly, watching a man, a wizard, actually, speak a few words and his luggage began to float up from the floor and trailed the man out the door. When his attention came back to Draco, the blond was waiting, key in hand, and he waited for Harry to catch up before they made their way to the room they’d be staying in. Just as the other wizarding establishments they had stayed in, this one had a large fireplace as well, which was no doubt connected to the Floo network. Harry knew not all of them had been connected to the Floo network, but were mostly there as it was the fastest way of communication, much like a Muggle telephone.

Harry left things to Draco, since he was already doing everything anyway, and he went to the bathroom to do his business. Draco had sat down on the bed just as Harry came back into the room. “Are we going to get a bite to eat?” he asked, since his stomach had growled quite persistently while he was in the bathroom. He knew Draco would be hungry by now too, but he had a feeling that they wouldn’t be going anywhere. There had been a strange feel about this town from the time they’d arrived.

As he had thought, Draco shook his head. “We’re too close to Durmstrang, and I’m sure there are spies on the lookout for anything suspicious all over the town.” Harry gave him a worried look. “It’s alright, I don’t believe anyone saw us, but that’s why it’s not the brightest idea to go traipsing about.” Harry sighed a little, more at the situation than at being denied a good, hot meal. It wouldn’t be the first time for that, anyway, so he paid it no mind. They hadn’t eaten much the whole trip, and they were mostly used to that fact already, but it was still good to have some real food every once in a while. “I don’t want anyone to see me, either, or I’d go pick something up and bring it back. As eerily as I resemble my father, everything we’ve worked for already will be blown if the wrong person sees me and, with you, the wind only has to change direction and blow your mop of hair out of the way to show your scar, and everyone would know we were here.”

Harry nodded, knowing that Draco was right. He was famous whether he liked it or not, just because he’d survived the Killing Curse, and since he’d been back in the wizarding world, he doubted the Daily Prophet had gone more than a week without writing something new about him, whether it was true or not, with a big picture of him plastered beside the article. Not to mention any other mischief that had happened over the years, The Triwizard Tournament being the least of his troubles during his fourth year at Hogwarts. To top it off, on a smaller scale, he couldn’t even go through a normal day at school without hearing something about himself, new or old, true or rumored, which spread from classmates to their parents and started the cycle all over again.

He brought a hand up to rub his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Harry had been dreading the day when he and Draco would be back at school and everyone would know that he was pregnant with Draco Malfoy’s child. If he had been a normal, regular, non-famous wizard, he bet no one would so much as bat an eye at him being with child. The only flack he would get from it would be lectures on unprotected sex at a young age. As most other teenagers would dread that lecture, Harry wished that was the only thing waiting for him when they returned. But he wasn’t just another teenager, and he took a deep breath at the likely fact that he’d be all over the front page of the Daily Prophet yet again.

Draco had started going through their bag and finding what was left of their supplies. They’d stopped a few times to pick up a few more items for food, such as it was, but they just had enough to make it to the end of their trip, which was coming to a head faster than either of them would like. The blond made a pile of a couple bags of crisps and a few candy bars; it didn’t make for a filling meal, but it would keep them from starving, not that they actually would. When they had finished the snacks, Harry pulled back the covers to the side of the bed closest to the window. As per usual, he let his clothes fall to the floor as he took each item off, and crawled into bed with just his boxers on. Draco did the same, but folded his clothes and set them in a pile on the nightstand. He wondered if Harry had to do everything in a messy way, as he compared even the tiniest habits of their mannerisms.

There had been too much on Draco’s mind for him to eat much, so he let Harry eat his fill. He knew Harry was still hungry, and he knew it must take a lot not to complain about it; if Draco had been in his position, that’s probably what he’d be doing. He just hoped that it had made a big enough difference to Harry to do any good. The blond got into bed and waited for Harry to put his glasses on the table to his side of the bed before Draco waved his wand and extinguished the lamps in the room. Harry was settling himself into the bed as Draco was shuffling slightly, and Harry thought perhaps he wanted to be alone for a bit, without the other boy draped over him. Barely before Harry finished that thought did Draco suddenly appear above him, straddling his hips.

Harry opened his eyes, but without glasses in the dark, he could see little more than a dark figure on top of him, though he could still make out the questioning look on the blond’s face. “I need you,” Draco said quietly. “Let me, please?” Harry swallowed at the huskiness in Draco’s voice and simply nodded. Draco moved down as Harry started to spread his legs, and the blond settled between them, bottle of oil already having been opened and closed. Draco smiled down at Harry, lowering his head to brush his lips against the other boy’s in a soft kiss as he moved his oiled fingers to Harry’s opening. Harry took in a sharp breath and it served to open his mouth to let Draco’s teasing tongue flick against Harry’s, making the boy under him moan, loving the feeling.

It took a bit of effort to hold himself above Harry, mindful of his weight as he didn’t want to squish Harry or their child, though he tried not to put too much thought into the latter. Harry was moaning as their bodies touched and the fingers started dipping inside of him, and he then realized that he was already naked, wondering when Draco had magicked their boxers off, or if he’d simply missed another five minutes of his life by being in a lust-filled daze. Draco started trailing kisses down Harry’s chest, still working at his arse, pushing his fingers inside fully. He gave a quick lick to the tip of Harry’s cock to savor the groan that came from the dark-haired boy’s lips before Draco took his fingers out and replaced them with his cock.

Harry had almost been on the verge of coming just from Draco’s fingers in his arse alone, and it felt like nothing could replace the pleasurable sensations they had caused, but he gasped, choking out a sob of relief that something could feel even better than that when he felt the head of Draco’s cock press against his hole. Draco took Harry’s attention away from what was going on below when he captured Harry’s lips in another fierce kiss, pushing himself all the way into the other boy’s body. No matter how many times he’d shagged Harry, the dark-haired boy was always tense before Draco entered him, almost as if it had been his first time, and Draco certainly knew what that had felt like.

Before he had even finished that thought, it was pushed away in favor of more enjoyable ones, pulling out as soon as he felt Harry’s muscles relax, and pushing back in slowly, kissing, licking and nibbling at Harry’s lips. He kept in mind not to bite, as the Gryffindor didn’t like it much; he doubted he would either, though no one had ever done it to him, but he supposed he could imagine. Draco thrust in and out slowly, enjoying the closeness of them, Harry’s cock rubbing against them both. This time seemed different than the other: he felt no urge to pound into the boy under him, to get off quickly and be done with it. Judging by the whimpers his motions were eliciting out of Harry, he must have been enjoying himself, too.

Draco was getting impatient, not used to this kind of thing, and he moved Harry’s legs from around his waist and pushed them forwards, towards the dark-haired boy’s chest. Harry arched his head back into the pillow as far as he could as Draco’s thrusting picked up pace, not quite slamming into Harry’s body on each push. The blond was starting to get close, moving his hips as fast as he could, into the pliant body beneath him. Harry’s hands were on Draco’s back, jerking upwards on each thrust as he lost his grip on sweaty skin until his hands twined into blond hair, pulling Draco down for a kiss that lasted until they couldn’t hold the awkward position any longer. Harry’s hand then found his leaking cock, and he began jerking himself in time to the blond’s thrusts.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the other boy, and what he saw made him moan; eyes closed, mouth slightly slack, lips still wet from their kiss, Draco’s expression was perfectly blank, but what Harry thought he saw made him gasp loudly, spurting come as his climax took hold. There was come all over his hand and their chests, but he couldn’t move until Draco was finished, which didn’t take long before he moaned out his own release, almost collapsing on the boy under him. He kept himself up, but had moved his arms so Harry could lower his legs back to where they had been around Draco’s hips. Harry tried to straighten them out a bit while they were at a stop, catching their breath. Draco was still inside Harry, cock half hard, but it was still enough to make Harry hum in pleasure when Draco shifted. The blond leaned down for a kiss, softly this time, almost sweet. He didn’t want to pull away from Harry, and his cock was taking interest in where it was, starting to stiffen.

Harry could feel it, too, though he had barely realized Draco’s cock had never left his body in the first place. Draco began to rock his hips, very lightly, then pulled back until just the head of his cock was inside of Harry, letting it ease out slowly, followed by a bit of his seed oozing out of the loose, red little hole. They had broken the kiss, and were looking at each other, each not knowing what the other was thinking. Draco wanted to continue, very badly, but he was also tired, and could see that Harry was, too, even though there was still lust in his eyes. They weren’t finished yet, but they would save it for another time.

The dark-haired boy looked to be asleep almost before Draco had gotten off the bed; he must have been more exhausted than Draco had previously thought, whether or not much of it had to do with their sexual excursion. Draco headed towards the bathroom and spent a moment cleaning himself off before returning to the bed with a cloth he’d soaked in hot water. Harry had pulled the sheets up while Draco had gone, proving he hadn’t been asleep then, but he surely was now. The blond pulled them down again and gently wiped at what he could see on Harry’s body, cleaning him of both of their come. Harry seemed to enjoy the warm cloth wherever it touched his body, snuggling into the bed more as Draco continued.

He tossed the cloth to the floor, on Harry’s side of the bed, and pulled the covers up again, this time with himself in the bed, as well. He didn’t know why he had wanted to hurry up their lovemaking, for that was what it had been, but perhaps that was the reason in itself. It wasn’t for lack of want, and they both knew that. He hoped he had made up for lost time by washing the other boy’s body, whether he was awake for it or not. He didn’t know why he didn’t use his wand, other than the fact that a warm, wet cloth was much more satisfying, but he tossed his debatable thoughts and feelings aside as he made himself comfortable in the bed. He lay on his side, facing the Gryffindor, and listened to the slow and steady breathing as he fell asleep.

@>*~

The sun had been up for a while before Harry, and he woke to find rays of light streaking across his face that had eventually pulled him from his slumber. He hadn’t remembered even falling asleep last night, and he hoped he hadn’t missed anything that might have happened after he’d fallen asleep. Harry figured he’d probably wake up if he’d had his brains shagged out of him a second time, like Draco had wanted. His arse was still a bit sore from the last few days. He thought he might cry at the prospect of never being able to sit again, even if it seemed funny to think of, the reality wasn’t as amusing. He decided he’d shut the curtain the rest of the way and come back to bed and wait for Draco to wake up, but he couldn’t get more than an inch or two off the bed, as something, being the dead weight of Draco’s arm, was impeding his progress.

Slowly, he pushed the limb from his body, trying not to wake the blond when he let the offending limb drop lightly onto the mattress. Draco had woken up when Harry tried to sit up, and had simply waited to see what the other boy was going to do, but then he changed his mind. Before Harry could even make it off the bed, Draco’s arm was around his waist again, pulling him close, and then letting his hand trail down to Harry’s cock, which was already half hard, and didn’t take long to be fully hard when Draco’s hand wrapped around it.

Harry groaned at the touch, how good it felt, even though he’d felt it many times before, including from Draco. The blond smiled into Harry’s shoulder as he moved his hand up and down, but he could tell Harry’s body was almost as rigid as the part he was holding on to, and just a little less hard than Draco’s erection brushing against Harry’s thigh. “Draco, please, not right now,” Harry begged. “I’m getting quite sore back there.”

“We don’t have to actually shag,” Draco countered, dropping Harry’s cock to pull the other boy back to him, as he tried to squirm away and out of the bed again. “There are other things we could do.”

“Like what?” Harry asked, in spite of his soreness, he couldn’t help being curious.

“Well,” Draco began, a smirk growing on his face, “have you given a blow job before?”

“You know I haven’t,” Harry said quietly, a bit annoyed, wondering if Draco had forgotten their conversation a few nights ago, detailing his sexual experience, or lack thereof.

“I was being polite, you git,” Draco said, nudging Harry playfully. “Anyway,” he started, turning over onto his back, “get on top, facing my feet.”

Harry turned to look at the blond, an almost smug expression on his face, which Harry wanted to wipe off, but he sighed loudly and complied, moving as the blond had suggested. Draco guided Harry’s feet and knees to where he wanted them, not to mention the cock dangling above his face, just as his own was positioned under Harry’s head. Harry wasn’t sure how to go about doing this, and he started to feel very shy. It was almost like he hadn’t seen Draco’s cock before, never touched it, even though he was quite familiar with it, indeed. He continued to look down at it, and breathed heavily to try and calm his nerves, and when his breath hit the blond’s thick erection, it made Draco twitch his hips, and that only served to encourage Harry to do more.

Leaning his head lower, Harry took a tentative lick down the length of Draco’s cock, then moved to the head, and teased his tongue over the sensitive skin. He was rewarded with twitches and movement from the boy under him, and he couldn’t help but know that Draco was grinning behind him. A little more ambitious, Harry shifted his weight to free a hand, and moved it to surround Draco’s cock, stroking lightly. He knew without a doubt that Draco was enjoying it, so he figured he must be doing something right. Just when he thought he was getting the hang of it, after putting his mouth around the head of Draco’s cock a little, and licking a little more, Draco picked that moment to do the exact same to Harry’s own cock.

Harry gasped, squeezing Draco’s cock in his hand a little tighter than Draco would have liked, though the blond still enjoyed it. Harry had almost forgotten his cock had been right in Draco’s face. He was so preoccupied with what he was doing that he forgot all about himself, though he was still hard as a rock. Harry whimpered at the pleasure running through him when Draco teased him with his tongue, and Harry took the hint and tried to do the same to Draco. The deeper Harry took Draco in his mouth, the same Draco did to Harry, and soon enough, Harry had accidentally thrust his hips forward, almost choking Draco, but almost coming down the blond’s throat, at the same time.

The blond moved his hands to Harry’s hips, holding tight, keeping them high enough not to kill him, but letting them come down far enough to make the dark-haired boy moan around Draco’s cock. Draco knew it was coming, and he sucked Harry’s cock, letting his tongue slide up and down the hard flesh in his mouth, listening to Harry’s groans of pleasure, when he cried out, coming inside Draco’s mouth. Harry was paused for a moment, and he realized he had stopped doing much to Draco’s cock, and he felt a little guilty, since he was the one who was supposed to be giving the blowjob.

Draco pushed gently at him, urging him to move from above the blond. Harry did so reluctantly, but Draco didn’t look too upset, what little Harry could see without his glasses. He watched as Harry squinted towards the stand on Draco’s side of the bed, and he reached for something, almost knocking it off the table before grabbing hold of it. Draco frowned for a moment, wondering what Harry was planning. Before he could question, Harry had turned around on his knees and leaned forward, bringing two oiled fingers to his arse and slowly sticking them inside.

Harry knew that Draco was watching, and he also saw the blond’s cock twitch, giving a little bob as he watched in interest. Draco swallowed, his breathing speeding up a bit as he watched, almost transfixed at the boy before him. Harry had two fingers inside, spreading them a little, and then came a third. Harry started to give throaty moans as he worked himself under Draco’s attentive stare. Draco felt like he should be asking Harry if it was alright, but he knew the answer anyway. He didn’t doubt Harry was sore, but he didn’t want to hurt the other boy. Draco slowly got onto his knees and moved behind Harry. Harry removed his fingers when Draco came closer, and he hoped the blond would still enter him slowly. He did feel a little badly about coming so soon, and pretty much forgetting about Draco’s cock altogether, and he wanted the other boy to get off.

Draco took hold of his erection, lining it up with Harry’s hole, wet with oil. Watching Harry stretch himself had almost made him come on the spot, and his cock was achingly hard. He wanted very much to push in hard, but he knew that wouldn’t be the best thing to do. Draco pushed slowly, hearing Harry breathe in sharply as Draco’s cock slipped past the tight ring of muscle. Draco continued slowly until he was as deep as he could go inside of Harry, their bodies meeting. He waited, letting Harry relax around his cock. Harry took a shaky breath, “You can move, now.”

Draco pulled back, his whole length almost all the way out before he pushed back inside. His grip on Harry’s hips was getting tighter with each excruciatingly slow thrust into the dark-haired boy. His control was being tested, and they both knew it. All he wanted to do was drive in and out, coming hard inside of his lover, but he couldn’t do that. Swallowing, Harry looked back to the blond, “Go faster, it’s alright.”

“Yeah?” Draco asked in a whisper, barely able to say anything without losing his concentration.

Harry nodded back, and Draco sighed, his grip loosening slightly, and he began to pick up his pace. Harry clenched his teeth as Draco’s thrusts got faster, and the pain made him want to make him cry out, but he knew it wouldn’t take long before Draco got off. A few more quick, shallow thrusts, and Draco’s cock spasmed, shooting his semen inside. He waited a moment, breathing more evenly now as he pulled out. He gave a wince in sympathy at the red, clearly sore, hole that his cock slipped out of. He was just glad there was no blood.

Draco reached for his wand from the nightstand, and murmured a Cleaning Spell on himself and Harry. Harry then sat up in bed, trying to sort himself out as he swung his legs over the side. Draco was getting dressed, and Harry decided he’d better follow suit. He supposed they had to get moving, as there wasn’t really time to waste right now, being so close to their destination. That word made it sound like a holiday of some sorts, but they both knew that couldn’t be farther from the truth. After vacating their room, they passed by the front desk, Draco stopping to speak to the witch there, paying her for the room and handing over the key.

Outside, the sun was out, but it was still a cooler than average day. There were people about, doing their business, mostly heading towards the center of the town where the market and shops were, and the two of them headed in that direction. The main street was much busier, and they got a chance to take in a few more sights of what was being sold. Much was the same, but some things were very strange. Draco pulled him over to one shop that sold snacks, and the blond bought a few things to stick in their bag. He didn’t seem to be letting Harry wander very far from his side, but Harry barely noticed until he felt an arm slide around his, and he almost shat himself.

“Just keep close, alright?” Draco spoke to him, as they made their way to a more secluded area. Harry didn’t know why they didn’t just Apparate in the street, but he supposed he wouldn’t be able to concentrate very well with all the distractions, and he really didn’t want to be stuck in a strange place. Draco would come back for him, but that wasn’t the point.

Just before they had left the main street, Draco looked behind himself, and to the corner of the mouth of the alley, swearing he had seen someone standing there, watching them walk further down the alley. The path turned, and they kept walking, though Draco couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. He had caught a few people looking at them in the street, but he had passed it off as them obviously being outsiders to the area. The feeling kept growing, however, and he looked behind them once more, only to catch a shadow move swiftly, barely noticeable, into the dark.

Harry was trying not to think much of anything, trying to keep his thoughts clear to Apparate and not splinch himself, but more to keep himself from running scared and trying to Apparate back home and splinch himself. He knew their next stop, and it was the last place he wanted to be. Neither of them knew what would happen, and all they could do was stick together and hope for the best. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked, Draco’s own anxiety filtering into Harry’s mind and drawing him to regard the blond with curiosity, and just a little bit of doubt.

“Nothing,” Draco said abruptly, quietly, though he was paying attention to something else, listening to something else besides Harry. Harry frowned skeptically, but let it go. He knew he should be a bit more concerned, but he wanted to get the next Apparation over with before he got his mind reeling again with too many thoughts to handle. “Come on,” Draco said, stopping in his tracks, “now is as good as any time, so let’s get it over with.”

Draco was getting frustrated, knowing that there was something watching them, following them. That, actually, was just annoying; what was frustrating him, and almost worrying him, was whether it was someone loyal to the Dark Lord or not. Draco’s wand was out, and Harry tried not to think bad thoughts. Here they were, ready to knock on Voldemort’s door, and Draco was acting strange, wand out, and looking around as if something were going to jump at him. It didn’t bode well for Harry’s nerves, and he almost wanted to puke then and there, without waiting to Apparate first.

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded. Draco closed his eyes, relaxing visually in front of the Gryffindor, and held out his hands. Harry looked at them, and took them in his own, thinking he knew what Draco was going to attempt. Draco held tight and pictured where they would reappear. Soon they disappeared with a pop, and the shadow moved out of the dark, now clearly a person, with robes flowing as they walked back towards the street. Draco hadn’t wanted to leave Harry alone to Apparate, and he didn’t know how right his concerns had been.

@>*~

Harry didn’t want to open his eyes, especially when he felt a cool wind blowing against him. Almost as soon as he had felt it, he was warm, and he opened his eyes, wondering if he had imagined it all, before thinking about how much he didn’t want to look at where they were. He just wanted to look at Draco, who had apparently cast a Warming Charm on them. Harry smiled, and Draco knew it was in thanks. He didn’t really want to talk, either. They were still quite a walk from the gates, and Harry wondered just how Draco knew how to get here. It surprised his thoughts and derailed them from going down a path of doubts when Draco grasped his hand and started to walk.

The wind was still blowing, and Draco was glad he couldn’t feel the cold, especially since it was beginning to snow a little. He kept an eye on the gates, visible by the sun’s rays reflecting off the iron bars. He was glad Harry seemed to be in denial of their final destination as he continued to look around at the trees, signs along the roads, paths that split off from the main one they were following, everything but the dark mass that was beginning to show through the foggy air, the Castle of Durmstrang.

He hadn’t thrown up, but if he looked where he was walking, he figured he probably would. Draco didn’t know how grateful Harry felt for him holding his hand: he hadn’t given it a second thought when the blond had grabbed it, but that might be as close to fear as Draco would show, even though they could be walking into their doom. As much as Draco wanted time to slow down, it seemed to go faster, and within no time at all they were standing at the gates. He felt a bit hysterical, wondering what the bloody hell he was really doing, coming this far. He couldn’t lie to himself, he had pondered more than once about simply giving Harry to the Dark Lord, but he knew he could never do it. There had been a time when Draco believed in the Dark Lord’s plan and principles, but he hadn’t for a long time, long before he and Harry had come together.

“What now?” Harry asked, finally focusing on the task at hand, a serious expression on his face. If he didn’t know better about what was inside, he would say that the castle looked good, mysterious, but not evil. The grounds looked more threatening than the castle, but they still faced one problem, and that was how to get inside.

Draco sighed. “Open the gates, I guess,” he replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. He watched and began to frown, slightly worried, when Harry took out his wand and pointed it at the gates.

“Alohomora!” he said, and nothing happened. He put his wand back in his robe and turned back to the blond, who had a very amused look on his face now. Harry shrugged his shoulders, feeling a bit dumb. “Shut up, it’s the only one I know.” Draco almost couldn’t keep his lips from twitching, and when Harry grinned sheepishly, Draco shook his head at the other boy. “We could levitate over the gates,” Harry suggested, “Ron and I were able to fly his dad’s car over the gates of Hogwarts.”

“Do you really think that would work?” Draco asked, sounding very skeptical. If Harry thought Hogwarts’ security was impressive at best, he was in for a big surprise. Without waiting for Harry to reply, he went on, “It won’t, and I’m not going to see what would happen if we tried.”

Harry threw his hands up in frustration, moving to sit on a nearby boulder. Draco watched him casually, and then went to sit down next to the other boy. Draco was in no hurry, and he was ninety percent sure that the Dark Lord was inside the castle, getting quite impatient at the two of them, waiting for them to hurry the hell up. He sighed to himself, not believing he had actually agreed to come all this way just to walk into something that had already turned into a trap. How could he have been so stupid just to follow Harry, humor him, and still come all this way before the realization hit? He wasn’t the type for self-sacrifice, and he knew he wouldn’t die for Harry, but he didn’t seem to know what he would do at the moment or not. He felt completely mental.

To top it all off, he had no idea what was going on between the two of them. They weren’t exactly a love, sugar, and sunshine couple, but over the time they’d spent together, even though it was full of stress, vomit, and sex, he had gotten to know the Gryffindor a lot better than he’d imagined. Maybe he had started to develop some feelings for the dark-haired boy in the past few weeks. If anyone had told him he’d be shagging Harry Potter and enjoying it purely for the simple pleasure of it, he’d have hexed them into their next life. If anyone had told him Harry would be expecting his child, and that Draco actually cared, he would have slapped them for thinking something so ridiculous.

It wasn’t so ridiculous now though, and Draco was brought from his thoughts when Harry promptly stood up and stalked over to the gate, stopping in front of them again. He lifted his hands and Draco had no idea what the other boy was on about, but then he did the stupidest thing. Harry pushed the gates, swinging them wide open onto the grounds. Draco stood and joined Harry, dumbfounded that the solution was so bloody simple, yet it was only the beginning. “What a brilliant idea,” he commented, sarcasm infiltrating his words.

Harry turned to him, preening for a moment before he realized what he’d just done. He sighed loudly, too frustrated for words, and he turned and walked through the open gates in a huff, ignoring the other boy and his helpful attitude. Draco was at his side again in a moment, but turned back when he heard a sound. He looked to the bushes outside of the gates, near where they had been sitting, and watched the branches as they were disturbed by something within their sheltering presence. It shouldn’t have been a hopeful thought that the gates would hurry up and close, locking them inside the grounds, since he doubted it would be as easy to get out, but he would rather die in a battle than become something’s lunch.

Harry frowned at Draco, noticing he was looking behind them. He was worried and trying to keep his mind on the good things that could happen, not the bad. “We’re in this together, right?” he asked, drawing Draco’s attention again. The blond was walking close to him, and it meant a lot that he was here with him, even if it was the most ludicrous plan ever executed in the history of bad plans. “You’re not going to leave me to die?”

“Harry … shut up.”

@>*~

Ron looked over at his new girlfriend as they walked back into the castle from the Herbology greenhouses. Even Hermione looked a little tired today on yet another Monday morning. Luckily they had the afternoon off: Professor Sprout had announced there was a staff meeting, so Ron’s plan was to have a nap, but as they were already headed to the library, he was a little skeptical he’d actually get a nap in before supper. As they walked through towering shelves of books to their usual area of tables, Neville and Blaise were already there. There weren’t too many other students in the library, figuring why bother studying if they didn’t have classes that afternoon, but that certainly didn’t deter Hermione, who settled her pile of books onto the table before even saying hello.

Ron had straggled behind a little, pausing in his step to let out a yawn, but he made it there, pulling out a chair beside Neville and looked sleepily towards his roommate. “Hello, Neville,” he said to him, trying to get as comfortable as he could, slouching into the wooden chair.

“Hi, Ron,” he said to the red-haired boy and looked up to see Hermione, arranging her books before she sat down, “Hermione.”

“Oh, hello, Neville,” she said cheerily, smiling at her friend. “Nice work with those spores in Herbology; I was afraid I would be picking them out of my hair for weeks if it weren’t for your help.”

“No problem, that’s what friends are for,” he replied, looking back to his homework to continue writing.

“So,” Hermione started, sitting down and folding her hands over an open book in front of her, “how are you two getting along?” She hoped she didn’t sound too nosy, but Blaise hadn’t even looked up from his book once since they’d arrived. Not that there was anything necessarily wrong with that; Merlin knew she ignored people for books many times during the day, but she had no idea what else to say to try and include the Slytherin boy. Ron didn’t seem at all testy, and Hermione wanted to take advantage of the moment to get to know the other boy.

Blaise and Neville both looked up at her with contented looks, and she had a feeling she already knew the answer, but that wasn’t the point at the moment. “We’re fine,” Blaise answered her, Neville nodding his agreement, smiling at his boyfriend, who gave him a look from the corner of his eye, grinning back. “A few of my housemates found out about me ‘hanging about’ with Neville, but I told them to sod off and I haven’t heard anything since.”

“That’s it?” Ron put in skeptically, sitting up in his chair a bit more. “You just told them to piss off and they did?” That was hard to believe, that the Slytherins would so calmly pass up an opportunity to make fun of anyone, even one of their own. Besides that, it was still difficult to wrap his head around the fact that Blaise actually cared about Neville; he’d seen the looks they gave each other when they thought no one was looking.

“Well, yeah,” Blaise said coolly. “After Draco, I’m second in command. All they said was, ‘Wait until Draco hears about this,’ but I thought to myself that he wasn’t bloody likely to do much about it at all, and I let them stew and walked away.”

“Huh,” Ron commented, not knowing what else to say and a bit jostled by the comment about Draco. Hermione watched the both of them, feeling the tension growing as Ron tried not to think at all, beginning to fiddle with her quill.

“How did you get together, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hermione asked, not grasping very far from the original subject, but it was a way to keep the conversation going without directly irritating anyone, she hoped. “I mean, it’s not everyday that people from opposite ends of the school end up as close as you two.”

“I don’t mind,” Neville said, setting his quill down and closing his book, clearly more interested in talking than his homework for now. “I had been wanting to ask Blaise out at the end of last year, but I was too nervous, and I didn’t even know if he, um,” he started to blush, that same nervousness creeping up again, “liked blokes that way.”

Blaise closed his own book and offered a hand, palm up, on the table for Neville, giving his support. Neville smiled sweetly at his boyfriend and took hold before turning his attention back to Ron and Hermione. Hermione smiled at the two of them, and knew that they clearly were in love. She hadn’t heard the rest of the story yet, but she didn’t have to in order to understand why Neville had wanted to be with Blaise, and why he would be so nervous about it. For him to even mention being nervous, Neville must have been ready to wet his trousers just pondering the thought of talking to Blaise.

No insult to Ron, because Hermione did love him very much, but Blaise was the typical ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ type. He had thick, dark brown hair, perfect eyebrows, chiseled features, perfect lips. His eyes were hazel with a touch of light brown, which made them just a tad bit creepy when they were staring at someone or some thing. And not to mention he had nicely toned muscles everywhere that was proper for Hermione to look; in almost every respect, he was a modern day Adonis. He had to be doing something right, because he was sexy. Hermione almost felt herself blush for a moment, and she averted her eyes from the boys in front of her to straighten her book. Even though Ron was more tall and lanky than dead gorgeous, she was very happy with what she had with him.

“Hannah Abbott was sitting at the same table,” Neville continued, “and I guess I panicked, because I, uhm, started chatting her up instead.” Neville grinned, a bit silly, and he felt strange telling this in front of Blaise, even though the Slytherin knew all about it already; Blaise was watching Neville carefully, interested in hearing the story as it was told, not witnessed.

“You asked her out to make Zabini here jealous?” Ron asked, wanting to poke at the Slytherin, but he decided not to go farther at the look on Blaise’s face. Neville looked a bit affronted at the question for a moment. Hermione mentally sighed and wished she could physically take Ron’s foot out of his mouth, or maybe just sew his mouth shut with her knitting needles.

“Oh, no,” Neville said. “I thought she was nice and pretty and everything, but, well, like I said, I had no clue if Blaise would want to go out with me, and I guess I thought I’d have better luck with Hannah.”

“What happened with Hannah?” Hermione asked quickly, before Ron could open his mouth again. She was thankful Ron hadn’t tried to say much more than he had, and didn’t seem to have much of an inclination to, because she didn’t want anyone to be on unfriendly terms. She was interested in spite of herself, not one to gossip much, but she liked knowing what was going on with her friends; she knew she was behind on the love life gossip that girls usually partook in, since she didn’t really have any girlfriends, except for Ginny, of course.

“We only spent a week together,” he admitted, looking away from Blaise a bit before he continued. “We, uh … we kissed once, but it just hadn’t felt right. At our next date in Hogsmeade, she said we’d be better off just as friends.” Neville shrugged his shoulders. “It was alright with me, since I had a crush on Blaise. We parted ways and she started dating Ernie.”

“Ernie Macmillan?” Hermione asked. “I wondered when those two had finally gotten it together; I hadn’t even known you went out with her, though, Neville.” Hermione knew she was having way too much fun and was simply torturing Ron with the conversation, but he needed to learn how to accept others for their differences. She loved him, but he could be a big arse sometimes. “How did you two finally get together, then?”

“He came straight up to me and asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him the next weekend,” Blaise put in, squeezing Neville’s hand and watching the boy blush. Blaise moved his chair closer to Neville’s, moving their hands under the table, which earned a startled look from Ron, who had watched them disappear into the unknown.

“That was it?” Hermione asked, looking to Ron, whose sudden movement had drawn her attention, but he had almost the same expression of surprise at Neville's boldness on his face. After being so unsure and timid about the whole situation, dating someone else because he couldn’t take a few more steps to get to the right person, he had simply bulldozed his way into it.

Neville smiled shyly at his friends. “After asking Hannah out, I felt a bit encouraged, despite the way it turned out, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. If he said no, I could move on and be disappointed, but I could move on all the same. But, well, he didn’t say no.” Neville turned to his boyfriend, reliving the memory of the look of deep interest in the other boy's expression in his mind. Blaise looked at him and leaned closer to give him a kiss. Ron watched, petrified at the intensity the Slytherin boy was inflicting on his friend, and he suddenly brought himself to clear his throat loudly, almost choking.

Neville was distracted, turning his head towards Ron, but Blaise simply kissed the incidentally offered cheek, just as lovingly as he would have kissed Neville on the lips. Hermione shook her head at Ron, while Neville asked if he was alright, oblivious to the reason why he had abruptly had a coughing fit. Blaise caught Hermione’s eye and they shared a chuckle, before Ron regained composure and glared at his girlfriend having a look with another boy.

“Does Malfoy know about you two?” Ron directed his question at Blaise, still sounding a bit grumpy. He still disliked the majority of Slytherins, and before this year, he wouldn't have liked any of them. But he was beginning to see that not all of them were as evil as they had seemed. Even though Ron's thoughts on Draco hadn't completely changed, he couldn't deny that the blond wasn't that bad after all. The same principle applied to Blaise.

“He knows I’m with someone from another house, but he doesn’t care who it is. He has his own life and I have mine,” Blaise answered, leaning back in his chair. “I doubt he’d blame me, most of the girls in my house are dogs, and the boys are dumb as a stick; knowing that, it’s not unusual for either of us to be dating a Gryffindor, even before he got with Potter.”

"What do you mean 'before' he got with Harry?" Hermione asked, wondering about the dynamics of her friend's relationship. She also wondered why Blaise sounded so curious about separating his life from Draco, his best friend. Was there something more between them, either Harry and Draco or Draco and Blaise? Harry had been so secretive, and rightly so, but had she missed something in his actions that could have explained more about their ‘relationship’? It didn’t thrill her to think of the boy who repeatedly called her names to be sitting beside her best friend in the Great Hall, feeding Harry tidbits of food or something just as mushy and ridiculous. Draco didn’t seem the type to ‘date’ anyone, either, so she didn’t think she had to worry about it that much.

“Well, Draco isn’t exactly new to the dating scene, and wasn’t exactly quiet or reserved about his goings on, either.” Ron looked a bit confused, and Hermione was grateful for Blaise’s discretion at an explicit explanation, since she didn’t think Ron could handle hearing about Draco’s sex life. “One day, he seemed simply to stop dating. Pansy had her knickers in a twist about it, and I believe I heard a couple of Ravenclaws gossiping about how Draco may have finally found ‘the one’, as he hadn’t been around for a few days, which I suppose was strange enough to warrant the comment.”

Ron looked like he was about ready to toss something across the room. Blaise spared him a glance before finishing up his story. "After that, I heard nothing, and I knew Draco hadn't been about with anyone. I had no idea what he was up to until I saw Potter in our dorm room and the fact that Draco didn't seem the least bit angry or surprised to see him there." Hermione let that all sink in, and the four of them were quiet. They tried to keep the conversation to topics that didn’t cause uncomfortable silences, but she supposed that it was only a matter of time before anything came back to the matters at hand.

It certainly put a bit of a different spin on Harry’s relationship with Draco. She thought she knew how Harry felt about it, but maybe what she should have been thinking about was how Draco was feeling about it. Clearly the Slytherin had changed, but how much and in what ways were completely a mystery, and probably were to everyone but Harry. It was making more sense that the two of them had run off to find someone who could understand what was going on with them and between them, even though it didn’t make the situation any less dangerous. As long as Harry listened to his friends, whether he agreed or not, he should at least take heed and apply some consideration for their opinions. She wouldn’t care if he stayed with Malfoy until they were old and grey, but at least she could move on knowing that he’d at least heard her out.

Ron had snatched a book from Hermione’s pile and was flipping though it, not even reading anything on the pages; Hermione wondered if he was even looking at the pictures. Neville had started to jot things down on a few papers and was gradually closing his books. Blaise had continued reading, ready to go when Neville was, just as he had been when they had arrived. There was no use right now to try and make the best of the situation and try to sit together, and in an unspoken agreement, Neville and Blaise stood, said goodbye to them, and made their way from the table.

Ron sighed when they were out of sight, and he shoved the book away, crossing his arms over the table and laying his head down on them. Hermione watched him stare blankly at a shelf of books, knowing he was irritated and to leave him be for the time. He was probably still mad about Malfoy being anything but a rival to Harry. He didn’t like it one bit, but he’d had time to, grudgingly, come to terms with it. He loved Harry more than his own siblings, though that wasn’t saying much, considering his siblings, but he still thought Harry was being an idiot taking up with Malfoy.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Hermione sighed to herself and flipped a few pages, dipped her quill, and began working on her Charms assignment. Since they were here, they might as well take advantage of the quiet to get some work done. It would be nice for Ron to work alongside her, but she knew he needed a minute. He would end up asleep and snoring within minutes, but after pulling him through the previous conversation and stress, Hermione thought she’d let this one slide.

@>*~

Snape awoke with a start, and was about to begin wondering why, when the searing pain in his arm filtered through his defenses and answered the question for him. He sighed, in frustration and pain, as he sat up in his bed. He’d been sleeping, albeit fitfully, but his tiredness didn’t dull his senses, and his ears pricked to attention when he heard a scurrying sound near the floor. “Pettigrew,” he growled to himself, and to the rat if he was still in the room. The door was open a crack, just enough for the pot-bellied rodent to slip in, out, and barely be noticed, despite Snape having closed and locked it before lying down last night.

He hadn’t even taken off his boots before lying down, knowing he might have to leave suddenly, and he was certainly not proved wrong. He’d deal with Wormtail later, right now he had to find the Dark Lord; to be summoned as anxiously as his Mark had burned, it must mean something big, something like the arrival of some not-so-unexpected guests. Snape went to the door, swinging it open wide, almost in hopes of finding Wormtail still standing outside, but he wasn’t there, and Snape continued hurriedly down the hall.

As he walked, the sound of his footsteps was the only thing to keep him company until the sound of students filtered into his ears, and soon a few sparse groups were sharing the corridor with Snape, going in the other direction. He watched them watching him cautiously, yet he knew they were used to his type of presence. It wasn’t a secret to anyone in the school that the Death Eaters were there, nor was it the first time the school had been used for darker purposes than simply teaching things that were forbidden elsewhere. Snape left them in his dust, and turned around a corner, almost to run right into Peter Pettigrew. “What were you doing skulking around in my room?” the taller man asked without missing a beat, eyeing the other man.

“I-I-I, uhm,” he cleared his throat, “uh…” Peter continued stuttering, trying to look anywhere but at Snape, and before either of them could say another word, Pettigrew turned and almost ran down the hall away from Snape, metal hand shining dully as he disappeared into the dark while still looking back over his shoulder at the imposing man. He was irritated beyond belief at Wormtail, and after such a shifty display of how much of a rat he really was, Snape had more than half a mind to follow after the other man. He was suddenly overtaken by loud footsteps echoing in the halls, followed by many voices murmuring behind him. He turned to see a large group of students making their way to their next class.

Snape still wanted to go after Wormtail, who was too far away now to follow. He’d never catch him, and would most likely go in circles; he might as well turn around and head the other way, since the halls and floors might have shifted that much in the time he’d wasted. He would get a chance to interrogate Pettigrew when the time came, but for now he still had to join his fellow Death Eaters for the Dark Lord to relay his orders. A breach in the magic of the warding on the gates surely would have been felt if those two were stupid enough to walk onto the grounds.

On second thought, Snape knew that was probably the smartest thing to do. Instead of lingering outside for someone to notice them and have a trap set for the moment they walked through the doors, they would hopefully try to get inside and hide before anyone could spot them. Snape was brought out of his thoughts when he turned another corner and passed another group of students. He paused a moment, watching the group, half with their hoods up, impossible to recognize in the dark corridors or in half the classrooms, for that matter. A thought came to him as he watched them fade into the depths of the hall. Perhaps....

@>*~

Harry and Draco made their way quickly across the grounds, sprinting and dashing around thick tree trunks and squat boulders towards the the front gate of the castle. Harry gave out a startled yelp when he was suddenly yanked behind a tree by Draco’s firm grip on his arm. He opened his mouth, wanting to know what the other boy was doing, only to close it at seeing Draco’s finger on his own lips, demanding silence. He looked expectantly at Draco, waiting to hear what the other boy had planned, and by the telling gleam in his grey eyes, he knew there was a plan.

Draco took a moment to peek around the tree, looking at Harry didn’t know what, but from the stiff stance of his companion, he reckoned it was important. Harry chanced a peek in the direction Draco was looking, turning his attention back to Draco as the blond started to speak.

“There are sentries guarding the entrance into the school,” Draco began, keeping his voice low so as not to alert anyone to their presence. “Every few minutes, they patrol up and down along the pathway circling the castle. Now, listen closely,” Draco said, pausing a moment to be sure he had the dark-haired boy’s full attention. Harry nodded at Draco to continue, wondering where this train of thought was going. “When I say to, I want you to run; don’t stop until you get inside. I’ll be right behind you. Understand?” His eyes were sharp, stern, and if Harry dared to assume, apprehensive. Harry took a deep breath before nodding his understanding. It sounded like a good plan, but with the way his luck had been going recently, he wouldn’t have been surprised if something unexpected suddenly happened before the two of them could reach the inside of the school.

Draco glanced around the tree once more, eyeing the sentries as they walked past the entrance. After a moment, Draco quickly whispered, “Go!”

At the prompt, Harry took off towards the entrance, running as fast as his legs would carry him. He hadn’t had a chance to look behind him to see if Draco was following him or not, but he didn’t relish getting caught by potential Death Eaters, so he hadn’t bothered looking until he got inside. As soon as he made it in, he turned the corner so he wouldn’t be visible from the outside.

A second later, he felt Draco run into him from behind, Draco having been unprepared for Harry’s sudden stop. They stood there a moment, straining to hear for any sign that they might have been spotted running towards the school. When no one came running and shouting after them, they breathed out in relief.

Draco took a moment to get his bearings straight. From what he could remember, the castle was notorious for its shifting walls and floors. Almost, but not exactly, like the staircases at Hogwarts. “Our robes and smaller body builds will give us away. We’ll need to find a dorm room and borrow some robes,” Draco told Harry as he led them down the hall.

“Smaller frames?” Harry asked, following closely alongside Draco. When Viktor Krum and his classmates had stayed the year for the Triwizard Tournament, they hadn’t looked all that big. Sure, they’d been taller and more muscular than he’d been, but then again, they’d been in their final year of school while he’d been a gangly fourth year.

“Yes,” Draco replied with a nod. “Most students here come from a colder climate, plus they’re just bigger, to put it simply.”

They continued down the hall, Draco thanking any deity out there that the school hadn’t shifted on them yet. He stopped in front of a portrait of a beheaded man and spoke to it. Harry’s eyes vaguely widened in surprise, but then he shouldn’t have been all that shocked to hear Draco speak, as he’d spoken a range of languages since their departure. The portrait swung open immediately after Draco had finished talking to it. As they walked through, Harry whispered to Draco, “Did you give it a password?”

“No. I told it who my father was. I wasn’t sure if it’d still work since I never wound up coming here for school,” Draco replied, making his way across the common room towards the boys’ dormitories.

As he followed after the blond, Harry looked around the room. It contained chairs and tables just like the common rooms back at Hogwarts, but the tapestries hanging on the walls seemed to show nothing but violent battles. He was glad he had never come here for school, because he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to stand all the dark themes.

Draco rounded a corner, stopping in front of a weathered door. He turned the handle and pushed it open slowly, just in case someone was inside getting dressed or otherwise engaged in personal business. Harry had to wonder where everyone was; probably in a class somewhere, he hoped, since Draco hadn’t seemed too worried about getting caught.

Draco opened up one of the wardrobes close to where the door was, pulling out two blood red robes and tossing one to Harry. Harry almost caught it with his face since he hadn’t been paying attention, looking around the room still. Once he had the robe in his hands, he put it on, noticing how much warmer it was compared to his own school robes. Draco did likewise, grabbing two furs as well so they’d appear more bulky. Draco turned to look at Harry, making sure he was set straight and decent. Once they were dressed and could conceivably pass as Durmstrang students, Draco gave Harry a look that conveyed ‘stay close and follow my lead’ as they made their way back out into the hall and into the main school.

They walked down the hall again, which had shifted while they had been in the dorm room, blocking the way they’d come. Harry continued to follow Draco, arranging his fringe as much as possible to try and hide his telltale scar. He pressed his palm to it, hissing quietly, as it had begun to throb even more since they’d arrived at the dark school.

They turned down a different hall, suddenly coming upon a group of surly looking boys. Draco continued on, ignoring the group, and was about to walk around them when one of them spoke up. “Aw, would you look at this. Little ickle first years,” a dark-haired, dark-skinned boy said, laughing along with his mates.

Draco continued to ignore them, trying to usher Harry past them. He didn’t think it wise to draw too much attention to themselves, especially since he was worried Harry might accidentally get hit in the stomach. They didn’t get very far when another boy stepped in front of the two Hogwarts students, blocking their path.

“Now, now, we didn’t say you two could go. We’re not finished,” the first boy spoke again.

“What do you want?” Draco asked suspiciously, not liking where this was possibly going.

The dark-haired boy, who Draco suspected was the group’s leader, stepped in front of Draco, invading his personal space. “My mates and I think you’ve got great potential to be our little whore,” he whispered just loud enough for all of them to hear, causing the others in the group to laugh. Draco pulled out his wand from its holding place inside his robes, but before Draco knew what was happening, he heard Harry give a startled yell.

“Take your hands off me!” Harry shouted, struggling to get out of the boy’s grasp. Harry had been in the process of pulling out his own wand when one of the other boys had grabbed him, pinning his arms behind his back.

“Let him go,” Draco said through clenched teeth, trying to keep his body as calm as possible, so they wouldn’t try to take out their anger on Harry as revenge against Draco if they knew he was worried about him.

“I don’t think so,” the leader said, laughing with his mates. “See, my mates and I like ‘em frisky.”

Draco growled low in his throat, pointed his wand at the boy holding Harry, and shouted, “Stupefy!”

The boy who’d been holding Harry was hit in the face with the spell, the only part Draco was able to aim at, thanking the heavens for Harry’s shorter height. The boy let go of his hold, collapsing to the floor as he was stunned. The others pulled out their own wands, but the leader growled out, “No! This little bitch is mine!”

The others in his group backed away, smirking towards Draco. Their leader was known for his dueling skills, apparently. Draco cracked his neck, getting into position, keeping one eye on the leader and the other on the main group. Harry had his own wand out this time, having retrieved it from its holding place within his robes as soon as the stunned boy had let him go.

The leader first came out with “Crucio!" Draco blocked the spell with a hiss and some effort, erecting a Shielding Charm.

Before the leader could utter another spell, Draco shouted, “Petrificus Totalus!” The leader hadn’t been expecting this, stiffening and falling back onto the floor with a wincing ‘thud’.

The leader’s gang gaped at Draco as the other boy fell to the floor. They wisely backed off, dragging the stiff boy down the hall before turning a corner and out of sight. Draco didn’t wait to see if they’d come back and grabbed Harry’s arm, pulling him along behind him in the opposite direction of the troublemaking boys. Harry gave no sign of protest at being jerked around this time, wanting to get as far away as possible himself.

They continued walking down the hall, looking behind themselves occasionally, making sure they weren’t being followed when they suddenly ran into someone. “Really!” came an indignant voice, presumably the person they’d bumped into by accident.

“Sorry,” both boys said quickly, hoping it was a teacher and not a Death Eater they’d run into.

“Really now,” the professor began, eyeing the two boys as she smoothed out her robes, “What’s so important that has you lot running down corridors?”

The two boys looked at each other, silently communicating whether or not to risk it and ask this professor, who oddly enough looked almost exactly like Professor McGonagall. After a moment, Draco turned to address the Professor. “We’re looking for Professor Snape. Do you know where he is?”

The Professor raised an eyebrow at Draco; he seemed very familiar to her. ‘Ah, yes,’ she thought. She remembered now. She’d seen his father strolling the corridors on the Dark Lord’s business. “Well, you boys are in the right area. Just continue down this corridor, take a right, then a left. That is, of course, providing the walls haven’t shifted by then,” she said, looking over her glasses at them. Draco thanked the Professor and took off down the corridor with Harry following after him.

The Professor warily watched the two boys head down the corridor. She wasn’t sure why exactly they were looking for Professor Snape, but she wagered it wasn’t anything good. She wasn’t particularly allied with the Dark Lord, but she taught at Durmstrang because she quite fancied the Dark Arts. She pulled out her pocket watch, noticing the time. She’d better hurry or she’d be late to her own class. She glanced once more down the corridor the boys had run down, before turning to hurry to her class.

@*>~

Snape had walked quickly back to his room; he knew that no one would be checking the Floos at the moment since the Dark Lord had most of the Death Eaters searching high and low for the two boys. Once inside his room, he stopped in front of his fireplace, knelt down, and grabbed a bit of Floo powder from its holding place. He tossed some into the fire before saying, “Hogwarts, Professor Lupin.” The flames rose up high, green fire almost licking the mantel, before dying back down to its original flare. Snape quickly stuck his head closer to the flames. “Lupin,” he said urgently.

Remus had been on his way out of his office; it was early still, and he had a few errands he needed to run before his first class of the morning when he thought he’d heard a familiar voice. He paused a moment, straining to hear. He listened hard for a bit, but didn't hear anything. Lupin shrugged, thinking he may have been hearing things due to fatigue. He made his way back towards the door when he heard the voice again, only louder this time.

“Lupin, come quickly.”

Remus ran back towards the source of the voice, the voice he’d know anywhere. Kneeling quickly in front of his fireplace, he saw Snape’s face peering at him from within the flames. “Severus? What is it? Why are you fire calling me; aren’t you worried you’ll get caught?” Remus asked in rapid-fire succession, glad to see the Potions master wasn’t hurt.

Snape held himself back from rolling his eyes at the other man. “I don’t have time for idle chit-chat, so listen: I haven’t found Malfoy or Potter yet, and neither have any of the Death Eaters. I presume they’re trying to blend in with the other students here and doing so with moderate skill, since they’re in the same building as the Dark Lord and haven’t been captured yet. Of course,” Snape continued, glancing over his shoulder occasionally in case one of the Death Eaters decided to barge in suddenly. “This whole mess could have been the Dark Lord’s plan from the beginning. Potter never did get the hang of Occlumency.”

“Well, whose fault was it to stop training him?” Lupin snappishly replied, frowning at the disembodied head of Snape.

Snape sighed. “We don’t have time to argue semantics, Lupin,” Severus growled, glaring at the other man. “I need you to Apparate to Lena, Russia.”

Remus’ mouth fell open. “Are you mad?” What in the world was Severus planning?

“I assure you, Lupin, I am in my right mind,” Snape tersely answered. “Let the Headmaster know if you must, but I need you there to spy for me.”

Remus sighed and nodded; seemed he’d be going to Lena. Lupin opened his mouth to say more, but Snape’s head had disappeared, leaving the normal amber glow of the fire in the logs. He hoped Severus would be all right, especially since the Dark Lord or his followers could very well have detected him.

Remus stood up and made his way to his office door, not wanting to waste any time and hoping Dumbledore wouldn’t be too upset his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor decided to take an unscheduled trip. Remus made his way through the school and down the lawns before walking past the gates and Apparating to Lena.

He appeared in the town of Lena, quickly heading towards the main streets from the alley he’d Apparated into. He slowed his pace, trying to look like any other tourist out for a stroll to take in the sights; not three meters from the alley, he suddenly stopped. Cursing himself for not having done it before leaving Hogwarts, he quickly but causally raised the hood of his robes. He’d spotted the telltale robes of a Death Eater; he was just very thankful that the man’s back had been towards him.

He had no idea what Severus had planned, but he couldn’t help admiring him. He’d actually missed the grouchy man when he had to go off, per the Headmaster’s orders, to Durmstrang. Lupin knew he was beginning to have feelings for the Potions professor; he just wasn’t sure if anything would come of it. Yes, he and Severus were becoming something akin to friends, but he knew Severus was still angry about the incident in the Shrieking Shack all those years ago, which he’d had no part in whatsoever.

Remus sighed at his thoughts. Maybe he should lie down or something. He was feeling very taxed by the long distance he’d Apparated, and he just wanted to relax and maybe sleep, but he knew he couldn’t. Severus was counting on him to scout out Lena. He hoped all the Apparating Harry had to endure hadn’t been too hard on him. It was tiring enough when one was in good health, but it was probably worse when one was with child. Lupin shook his head of distracting thoughts, and focused on helping Snape.

He spent most of what little daylight he had left lurking about the dark wizarding town of Lena. He must have been to what felt like twenty pubs, on the lookout for anything amiss. The worst thing about this whole trip was how in heaven’s name had Harry and Malfoy been able to traipse amongst the streets without getting seen once? Or had they?

Remus sighed again, stepping inside the last smoky pub on the street he’d been checking. His step faltered a moment when he finally found what he assumed he’d been looking for. Right in the middle of the pub were two Death Eaters. If their robes hadn’t given them away, the two masks laid out on the table in front of them had. Remus guardedly made his way to the bar, weaving around enough patrons to keep out of sight of them, and ordered himself a drink, all the while keeping an eye on the two robed figures. He accepted his drink and paid the barkeep as he sat on a stool, thankfully within earshot of the two men.

The two Death Eaters didn't say much of importance: talking mostly of their families and Quidditch; nothing Remus really needed to know. After an hour of listening to the two men talking, Remus was about to move on when he suddenly heard Snape’s name mentioned. Remus sat up then, hand curling around his glass, straining to hear.

“I’m pretty sure Snape’s on our side, mate,” the Death Eater closest to Lupin said to his companion. “He basically spilled about that Potter boy, saying he was on his way here to Lena.”

“I reckon you’re right,” said the other man, though his tone sounded embittered to Lupin. “Why do you think all of us are out scouting these bloody cold areas?”

Remus froze, anger welling up inside of him. The glass in his hand shattered suddenly at hearing what the two men had said about Severus. Did he really give Harry up to the Dark Lord? He thought frantically to himself. He shook his head to himself at how ridiculous that sounded to him. Dumbledore would never allow Snape to continue helping the Order if he’d suddenly changed sides. Snape must have had to tell the Dark Lord what he’d wanted to hear to keep himself in the dark wizard’s good graces. Either that, or the Dark Lord found out about Harry himself. Remus sighed quietly, wondering just what the two boys had been thinking to go off after Snape.

He sat quietly at the bar, hoping Severus was all right and not at the mercy of the Dark Lord. Merlin knew what would happen to Severus if Voldemort found out which side Severus was really on. He couldn’t help his feelings for the other man; he’d never mentioned how he felt about Severus to the Potions master. Remus wasn’t sure if he felt the same way and he didn’t want his heart broken if he was rejected, so he kept quiet, and just enjoyed the fact that he at least had the man’s friendship, if not respect.

Remus was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed the pub go suspiciously quiet. He turned a bit on his stool, making sure he wasn’t being obvious in his spying of the two hooded figures, and watched as they threw some money onto the table before grabbing their masks and heading towards the door. Remus waited a beat before following after them. He sighed in irritation when he got outside and couldn’t see the men at all. They must’ve been called by Voldemort, and simply Apparated away.

Remus wandered around, looking through shop windows and such, wondering what he was supposed to do now. All Severus had told him was to scout out Lena and look for anything unusual going on. Everything had seemed normal except for the two Death Eaters he’d overheard and that one who thankfully hadn’t seen him. He supposed he should stay and wait for word from Severus. He really hated leaving Hogwarts in the middle of the day without a word to Dumbledore, but he trusted Severus, and more than trusted him, and knew there was some method to his madness, even if he wasn’t sure what it was.

And he hoped Harry would come through all of this relatively unscathed. He also wondered where Harry would live after all was said and done. Remus knew the boy wouldn’t be going back to his Aunt and Uncle if he could help it. Although, would he decide to stay with his father’s only remaining friend, or would he choose to live with Malfoy since they had a child together? And, if Harry chose Lupin, would he want Malfoy with him, and could Remus honestly say at the moment that he’d welcome Malfoy into his home?

@>*~

Draco and Harry still hadn’t found Professor Snape. They’d followed the directions the Professor had given them, but by the time they’d gotten to where she said he’d most likely be, the walls had changed and they found themselves more or less where they’d started. As a result, they had to spend the night under Harry’s invisibility cloak in a broom cupboard. Harry had fallen asleep cuddled up next to Draco, but the blond kept waking up at every little sound that got too close to where they were hiding. They couldn’t use the invisibility cloak to roam around since there were wards surrounding the school that would alert anyone to them. They were just lucky no one had thought to ward the broom cupboard, but then not many people had that type of cloak or would want to sleep in a cupboard.

The next morning, Draco was tired and cranky from lack of sleep, but he knew Harry required it more then he did. They needed to find Snape, and soon; even if he wasn’t able to do much for them, they could at least feel like they had accomplished something and finally get to talk with him.

They tried to blend in with the other students milling about, on their way to their next classes or what have you. Draco was lost in thought, distracted, when he suddenly froze; he felt Harry walk into him from behind when the blond suddenly stopped. Up ahead were two hooded figures that Draco recognized as Death Eaters; he knew who most of them were, thanks to his father. Draco spotted a classroom across the corridor they were standing in and dragged Harry quickly inside. Both boys were surprised to see the Professor from the other day; this must have been her class.

Draco pulled Harry after him as they made their way up to the teacher’s desk. “Pardon us, Professor,” Draco started, drawing the professor’s attention.

“Hello again, boys,” she greeted. “Were you able to locate Professor Snape?”

Draco shook his head. “No, ma’am. The walls changed on us before we could. Would it be all right if we sit in on your class? My friend and I,” he said, indicating Harry, who was letting Draco do most of the talking since even with the shifting corridors, he seemed to know his way around the dark school. “We’d be first years, of course, but we wanted to see if this would be a school we might like to attend.”

The Professor eyed the boys suspiciously; they were a little old to be attending any school as first years. “I don’t see the harm in it. Just please be respectful and don’t disturb my class.”

“We won’t. Thank you, Professor. Come on,” Draco said, pulling Harry behind him. They found two empty seats at the back of the class. Draco raised the hood of his robes to cover most of his face and Harry followed his cue, doing likewise.

The Professor was pretty sure they weren’t telling the truth. The boys were acting very suspicious for one, and with their accents, one would think they’d be attending that school up in Scotland. She supposed this was why the two boys had been looking for Snape, but then he wasn’t really a teacher at Durmstrang.

Draco and Harry settled back as the class began to fill up. No one noticed them, or if they did, they didn’t seem to care. Harry was surprised to find out the subject of the class. He knew this school taught the Dark Arts, but he couldn’t believe they were actually teaching the students the Unforgivable Curses. He supposed he should be glad that they were using insects rather than each other, but of course, the school would have had some major explaining to do if all their students died from performing the Killing Curse on each other.

An hour had gone by before the class was finally dismissed. The two boys stayed back until all the students left before they headed out into the corridor themselves. They continued wandering through the school in search of Snape; they didn’t want to wander too far, lest they find themselves completely and utterly lost.

“Well, this is just brilliant,” Draco growled, throwing his hands into the air out of frustration. “We’ve wasted all this time walking around and there’s no sign of Snape anywhere. Please tell me why I went with you again?”

Harry frowned. “We needed to talk to him,” he simply replied, fingering a loose thread on the hem of his borrowed robes.

“Talk to him about what? All we had to do was wait for him to return to the school, but oh no, we had to go after him. I must’ve been out of my damn mind,” Draco seethed, running his hands through his hair in agitation, making his hair stand up in little spikes about his head.

“Well,” Harry flatly said, trying to ignore the blond’s ire, “At least we haven’t run into any Death Eaters?”

“Pfft!” Draco scoffed. “With our luck, they’re probably hiding in the toilets, waiting for that opportunity when one of us needs to take a piss.”

“Um … Draco?” Harry said suddenly, facing the opposite direction the blond was standing.

Draco whirled around, an impatient scowl on his face. “What?”

But his dark-haired companion wasn’t eyeing him, and Draco was doubly frustrated for the boy not even having the tact to let him cuss him out properly. “Erm, those two blokes overthere are staring at us,” Harry said, gesturing with his head down the corridor towards the boys he’d pointed out.

Draco whipped around, hand on his wand as he did so. “Hmm,” Draco started suspiciously, swollen anger lessened quite a bit, “I don’t think they’re You-Know-Who’s minions.”

“How can you tell?”

“I don’t recognize them. Probably just more blokes after my arse,” Draco said, eyeing the two robed figures warily.

“Well, it is a nice arse,” Harry said smiling, trying to diffuse the tension he could sense radiating from the blond in leaps and bounds.

Draco snorted and rolled his eyes at Harry. “Funny, no really.” Draco grabbed Harry’s sleeve and pulled him along. “Come on, let’s keep looking.” He led Harry around the corridor, having to backtrack a few times due to the shifting walls.

“Say, is this an all boy school? I haven’t seen any girls yet,” Harry thought to ask, looking around as if for the first time.

“There are girls here, just not very many, and we wouldn’t be able to pass as girls even if we tried,” Draco replied.

Harry kept quiet for the moment at that as they continued their walk down and around corridors, hoping eventually they’d have to run into Snape, even if by accident. The odds weren’t that much against them, were they? They just hoped Snape hadn’t already left, which would have really sucked.

@>*~