Only You Can Set Me Free

Chapter 26

Certain Death is Only an Illusion

Draco sat in the tall grass, brooding as he watched the older, newly rescued boy chasing after the large black dog. Harry seemed to be having a grand time, turning to look at Cedric and wagging his tail rapidly. Of course, he had good reason to be so joyful, seeing as Hermione had sent back a bit of information about horcruxes and some text on how they may be able to destroy the soul containing items. Harry had also filled the other two members of the pack in on everything he felt of necessity in regards to himself and Draco. Luna had taken the information in as something she expected all along. Cedric was slightly shocked yet highly amused at such a pairing.

They all decided it would be best to relax while they could. They traveled a few miles a day, in a direction picked by Harry himself because he “had a good feeling about it.”

So now they rested after hours of walking, finding peace in a small, semi- enclosed field. It was rich with wild flowers and giant spruce trees. Luna was off in her own world, gathering flowers and small mushrooms, appearing to search the ground for something. Draco contented himself with staring at the two boys, glowering.

Yet, while he watched the pair as they romped, he could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy. It had been six days since their battle with Ron, and Harry seemed to be completely avoiding him as of the last few days, spending more time with the weird blond girl and Voldemort’s play thing.

Correction, the dog boy had practically snarled and bit his head off when the blond had made a snide remark about a passage in a little black book that belonged to Harry. Since then, the dark haired boy seemed to ignore him, making the former Slytherin quite upset.

He looked down at the marking on his wrist, tracing the fangs with his pointer finger.

‘What was I thinking? He obviously doesn’t give a damn about me. He would rather spend his time with that prat and the head case with the creepy glasses.’ He pounded the ground beside him, much like the spoiled boy he was not too long ago as the pampered Malfoy.

With a soft and irritated sigh, Draco flung himself backward into the soft grass, closing his silver eyes slowly as he contemplated his ‘relationship’ with the Gryffindor.

Out of nowhere, the roles that Draco had been accustomed to had changed dramatically. Where he was once the untouchable, snarky prat of the two, Harry being the one to pursue and chase after him, he was now playing the lap dog, the love sick puppy. Harry, on the other hand, was cold and distant, making the blond angrily pine after him.

The one thing Draco hated more than almost anything was vying for another’s attention. Growing up he was given full attention by those around him, whether they wanted to or not. Having Harry snub him day on end was beyond irritating, it was infuriating.

As lost in his thoughts as he was, he laid motionless, eyes and ears closed off to the world around him, thereby disconnecting himself from the birds that chirped, the laughter of the others, or the wind that blew through the grass.

‘Why can’t I stop thinking about that prat? Why do I care about who he wants to pursue? I can’t believe I have feelings for Harry bloody Potter of all people. Following him out here to gods knows where just to be ignored as soon as he finds his precious Diggory. He changes his mood so much I can not keep up with him. Why can’t I just leave right now and not look back?’

Eyes still closed, still blocking everything out, he reached over and touched the mark on his wrist, running his thumb over the slightly warm symbol.

‘This is why,’ he thought miserably, his brows turning down. ‘I can’t just up and leave the git, even if I wanted to. This stupid mark makes me his pet, his property.’

With an angry snarl, the blond sat up, stormy eyes icy in their fury. He grabbed his wrist, glaring down at the fang shaped marking. He released his arm, swiftly using his other hand to bring down on the mark, nails connecting with his pale skin. Biting his lip roughly, he scratched viciously at the marked wrist, trying to mar and destroy the connection that held him to the other boy.

Blood began to seep from his wrist; still he scratched and clawed, all the while hoping the dog boy would not smell the sharp scent of the red fluid.

With a hopeless, annoyed and pained whimper, Draco dropped his battered wrist. The shapes seemed to have been unscathed, seemingly mocking his efforts to destroy it while blood oozed from the cuts surrounding it.

‘Blasted mark,’ the blond thought bitterly, cringing at the sight of his blood staining his pale skin.

Draco cast a quick glance at the dark haired dog in the distance, noticing Harry pause and stare at him for a brief moment, eyes weary before he reluctantly turned back to the other boy.

‘Bloody well let me bleed to death… arse.’

The arrogant boy threw on his trademark scowl, standing; he grabbed his tattered wrist and walked briskly away from the others. He scanned the surrounding area, leaving the protection of the cloaking spells put up by himself, Luna and Harry.

He knew that if he did not stop the bleeding, or at least clean the cuts, he would be in trouble. It was bad enough he did not know how to cast an effective spell to heal the self inflicted wound. The knowledge that he brought this pain upon himself further made him feel like a complete git.

Also, adding to his anger was the fact that Potter didn’t seem to be following him, didn’t even call after him. Draco cursed under his breath, hating himself for wishing that the other boy would chase after him.

So he walked, he walked past the ever steadily growing trees, past the large rocks and boulders that led to a barren, deserted clearing. At the end of the clearing, he examined by walking to the edge of it, was a steep drop, at the bottom of which were fast moving rapids. He backed away, feeling slightly light headed, and he moved away from the intimidating cliff and looked around the clearing. Very few trees stood on this land, and they were small and dead looking compared to the trees he had passed. To his left, he spotted what he had been searching for.

With a sigh, he dropped to kneel, disregarding the pain his knees encountered as they hit the small gray pebbles that littered the ground.

He dipped his arm into the cool water, taking a sharp intake of breath at the stinging pain. The water tinted red as the blond kept the bloody appendage submerged.

Once he was sure the bleeding had been stopped, he pulled his arm from the small pond of water. Sure enough, the blood had stopped seeping from his wounds. Long jagged cuts weaved across his wrist, displaying the pale skin of his marking more prominently.

With a quick tug on his sleeve, he ripped a long piece of material off and wrapped the cloth around his wrist as best he could having only one capable hand to complete the task before him.

‘So what if I made fun of his ridiculous diary? What does it matter if I mentioned his fight with the headmaster? The bloody prat does not need to ignore me, especially since he was the one that dragged me out here.’

Suddenly, there was a crunch.

Everything seemed to come to a halt as Draco slowly looked up from his kneeling position. With a gasp, his eyes traveled past the small pond he kneeled beside, and up the long, hairy, lanky body of the creature towering over him until he stared into the blood red eyes of the huge beast before him.

The giant monster smiled viciously, displaying a row of dangerously jagged looking teeth. Its face was covered with a filthy mat of auburn fur.

Of course, Draco admitted to himself, he was never the type to commit random acts of bravery. Yet when certain death stared you in the face, it was hard to keep the adrenaline from bubbling over to aide you when you needed the extra courage.

It stared at him, its entire body shaking in excitement. Draco glared at the beast, reaching back to grab his wand from his pocket with the uninjured arm. He quickly shot off the first spell he could summon up.

“Crucio!!”

Dodging, the wolf snarled, lunging at the blond with jaws wide open.

Before the blink of an eye, a huge black blur flew from seemingly nowhere, colliding with the werewolf.

Harry jumped back, putting himself between the beast and Draco. He hunched his shoulders, head low as he snarled viciously at the lycan.

Draco’s eyes widened in shock and incredulity, he glowered at the black dog that stood protectively between himself and the beast.

‘The hero comes at last,’ Draco seethed, feeling foolish and weak.

“I don’t need your help Potter; I am fully capable of destroying this creature on my own.”

The large black dog growled, not at the were-creature, but at the blond, for putting himself in such a dangerous situation.

“I mean it Potter, back off!” Draco bit out, furious that Harry would decide to interject now that his life was in danger.

Harry did not, in Draco’s opinion, give a damn about him before, what made him come now? Did he come to play the protector again?

Draco, for one, was fed up with playing the damsel in distress role. With a growled string of curses, the blond stood and purposefully strode past the large black canine.

Harry growled again, shifting to block the boys’ way before the git got himself into more trouble.

“Get away from me Potter!”

Draco was not about to throw a spell at the dog, but it riled him beyond belief that the dark boy thought of him as a weakling.

Harry remained unmoved, his eyes trained steadily on the beast before him while shouldering the blond back and away from the battle ground.

The werewolf stared at the two, his fangs covered in drool at the prospect of twice as much prey to consume. The reason it had not pounced yet being the amusing sight before him.

“Damn it Harry, step as-…”

Draco was thrown back none too gently to fall onto the hard ground.

The werewolf, having had enough of their bickering, lunged just as the blond hit the ground.

The canines flew at each other, snarling as they sailed through the air.

Their collision was violent. On impact, the two were tearing at each other, fangs ripping at fur and skin as blood spurted from gaping wounds.

Draco scrambled to his feet, trying to aim his wand at the larger animal only to stop as Harry blocked his shot. All he saw was a tangle of limbs and blood flying from all directions as the two bit and clawed each other viciously.

Their blood seemed to flood beneath them, neither one backing down as they wrestled in the pool of crimson fluids. There was no way of determining which was getting the upper hand, for both seemed to be drenched in blood, still unrelenting in their attacks.

Draco knew better than to use his Animagus form, getting between the dueling pair would mean certain injury and he would only be getting in Harry’s way.

He watched in horror as the wolf reared up, howling as he tackled the black dog that was trying to get to its feet. They rolled across the soaked ground toward the cliff Draco had seen before. ‘They don’t know it is there!’ Draco thought anxiously.

“Harry!”

The two combatants had separated, Harry standing within feet from the drop. They both panted heavily, their fur coated in blood, large cuts covering their worn bodies.

Harry turned to his mate, his emerald eyes stoic and threatening.

Every negative thought he had been thinking prior to the battle fled the blonds’ mind as he looked into those brilliant eyes. Those sharp eyes told him to stay away, no matter what should happen.

Draco turned sharply at the sound of rapid foot steps.

Cedric and Luna came running, followed by both full grown phoenixes.

The two stopped beside Draco, staring at the bloody canines before them in dismay. Luna gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Cedric glared at the filthy beast hatefully.

The newcomers, coming to their senses, pulled out their wands, training them on the were-beast.

The werewolf turned blazing and chaotic red eyes on them.

Before the beast could attack his pack mates, Harry snarled savagely, catching the wolfs’ attention once more.

The werewolf turned and lunged at the large dog.

Harry’s eyes were fixed on Draco, once serious, now they were soft and apologetic, the blonds’ own eyes widened in shock as he watched the scene play out before him.

With a sickening thud, the wolf slammed into the distracted dog, sending both of them flying over the edge of the cliff.

“HARRY!!!” The three cried in unison.

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A/N: I know, Draco does seem a bit OOC, but hopefully it is just a bit, he is still quite stubborn and arrogant, as you will see. This story does have a plot, although it may seem a bit random, believe me, it will all come together as the story progresses more. Please review if you like, constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not and never will be.

Thanks