Unlikely Beginnings

@>*~

Chapter Twenty Eight

They\'d been traveling for the last few hours straight, and Draco was pretty
sure Harry had no idea where the hell they were at the moment. After they\'d
left the castle grounds, Draco had stopped Harry and told him that they
should follow the road down to Hogsmeade to begin with, and if they wanted
to cut across somewhere after that, it was fine with him. Of course, he\'d
definitely need new boots after all of this, but that was later.

He was surprised that Harry had enough wits about himself to know it was a
better idea to travel at night, because, honestly, they\'re still a Malfoy
and Harry Potter. Not too good to be seen in public like that. Draco
definitely didn\'t want anyone to see them together, for the simple fact that
it would damage his reputation if it wasn\'t slowly controlled until the
point where they could be seen together, and not in a fight of some sort.
Besides that fact, Draco knew that he was followed when he was of
f
school.

Technically, it wasn\'t \'followed\', but it wasody ody annoying, Draco
thought. His father had set some orders to be taken out should he be sent to
Azkaban, and one of them was to keep track of Draco. He\'d known about it,
but, first of all, he didn\'t think his father was going to be caught, and
second, he didn\'t think it would be so frustrating to have a silent
chaperone hiding in the dark everywhere he went. Well, it was. Even though
they didn\'t know he was outside of school, he didn\'t want to take any
chances; they\'d keep out of sight.

Neither of them would have had to worry about laying low if they weren\'t
going on this ridiculous escapade in the first place, but that was Harry,
Draco supposed. If he didn\'t do that, he\'d be right boring, then, wouldn\'t
he? Can\'t have that in a celebrity. His father would have given him a sharp
knock to the back of his head for being so impulsive and simply acquiescing,
going along with Harry, but Draco didn\'t care. His father wasn\'t that type,
and his mother seemed to think that it was just a way for Draco to be
defiant, and still retain his dominant posture with things, but still taking
control.

As long as he did what his father wanted over all, he was free to do what he
wanted, so much as he didn\'t interfere with things that didn\'t involve him.
He really didn\'t want to think about his father, despite the direction his
mind kept pushing for. Even though he\'d had more than a year of not being
dragged along to some evil function or another, he missed Lucius; though not
particularly the parties.

The reason he\'d thought of his father to begin with, was because he was
trying to recall the most he could about the few times he\'d been taken to
Durmstrang. Lucius had considered sending Draco there instead of Hogwarts,
but that would seem suspicious, with the Ministry watching for misbehavior
in all elite who were known to be... less than honest in their dealings. It
came down to Draco\'s education, and public appearances, and a compromise was
reached; Draco would go to Hogwarts, and Lucius would teach him all he
needed to know of the Dark Arts.

Since he\'d get enough training at home, and the addition of keeping up
tradition and whatnot, Draco was sent to Hogwarts, and told to be sorted
into Slytherin. He wondered what his father would have done if the Sorting
Hat hadn\'t placed him in Slytherin, and decided he was too tired to imagine
all the horrid things his father would do to whoever was responsible for it.
Ahead of him, Harry was still trudging along, though Draco could tell he\'d
slowed considerably from the time they started.

He still didn\'t think Harry had a clue where he was going, and Draco was
dead on his feet. \"Harry,\" he panted, after jogging the short way to get out
of the open. They\'d followed the edge of the woods, and they were starting
to curve away from the road that was adjacent to them. The landscape was
rapidly changing, starting to become more hilled. In the distance they could
see a town just the other side of the largest ridge, and Draco decided for
them, not caring what Harry\'s opinion would be. He\'d punch him unconscious
if Harry didn\'t agree, \"We have to stop for the night.\"

Draco leaned over, hands on his knees holding him up, his breath almost
fully returned. He prided himself for being in shape when all he did for
activity was the occasional Quidditch game at school, though there certainly
were an obscene amount of stairs at Hogwarts, and add that to what he had to
deal with at home, he got enough exercise. He watched as Harry turned
around, only a meter or two in front of him. He was still panting, and he
looked at Draco before he started falling forward.

Panicking as he watched Harry\'s eyes roll back in his head, all he could do
was simply watch as Harry hit the ground, face first. He fought the sudden
urge to laugh at the other boy, and moved to haul him over to the nearest
tree. Draco\'s footing slipped as he got close to the tree, and he landed on
a knee, and pulled Harry the rest of the way like that, shuffling backwards
as he went. Leaning up against the tree himself, Draco set Harry beside him.
It would be rather suspicious to drag, or carry, Harry over to the town and
find a place to stay for the rest of the night and all of tomorrow.

Or, they could stay in the woods, which would be drearily cold and
uncomfortable, or they could suffer the odd looks and find a hotel. Draco
had money, but none of it in Muggle currency, since it was very rarely that
he was in a Muggle town and didn\'t know where he could go to exchange. He
supposed he could pawn his watch, or his Slytherin brooch to get a ride far
enough to find a place where he knew wizards would be

They were quite a ways from London, but they needed to find somewhere to
change his money or to use it how it was. Draco began to feel very alone as
he sat with his back against the tree, listening to the faint sounds
drifting from the town over the hill. Harry had slid sideways towards him a
while ago, but Draco couldn\'t bring himself to care, rather enjoying the
steady weight against him, keeping him a bit warm. He\'d rather Harry was
leaning against his other side now, though; warm it up, too, you know.

Harry\'s head lolled onto his shoulder, and Draco felt oddly comforted, even
if he knew Harry was half unconscious and asleep, too much so to care that
he was sitting in a cold, damp forest. Draco lifted his arm slightly that
was trapped behind Harry\'s body, and settled his hand on Harry\'s hip, making
sure he didn\'t fall the other way, despite the fact that Harry was
completely leaning on him now. Merlin, he hoped Harry didn\'t snore. He\'d
never be able to spend the night with the other boy if he did. At least not
without rectifying it in some way, like holding a pillow over the other
boy\'s face until he woke up, and Draco rolled back over, shoving said pillow
under his head and going to sleep himself.

With his other hand, Draco pulled out his wand, intending to make a fire to
keep them warm. There was a rather large beetle on his arm, and he sneered
at it before shaking his arm vigorously to get the insect off. Suddenly, he
heard a loud bang, and he jumped, tightening his hold on Harry when a bright
light shone before fading, amazingly revealing a huge, triple decker bus. It
had appeared out of thin air right in front of them in the small clearing
between the woods, the hills and the road.

\"Oi! You coming?\"

@>*~

After Transfiguration, Harry still hadn\'t shown up, and Ron and Hermione had
decided they\'d go and check a few places that Harry might be. He might have
simply forgotten about classes and was sitting in the library looking for
something in particular; even though that was Hermione\'s forte, Harry did,
on occasion, have something strange to look up and wouldn\'t rest until he
found it. That was why, during lunch, the two of them had ventured to the
library to start their search
Th
They knew Harry could be sitting in the restricted section right now, but
they didn\'t think he was that stupid to do it during the day, unless he fell
asleep under his cloak, or something. Ron and Hermione had almost scanned
every aisle in the library until they came to the last corner, and they
walked without hesitation into the least used corner of the library. \"Oh,\"
Hermione started, though that was as far as she got before her brain stopped
and decided to simply stare at the people in front of her.

It certainly seemed like Harry from behind, though the lack of blond she was
initially expecting just didn\'t appear. It wasn\'t Harry, and they both found
out just who it was when the two dark haired boys in the dusty aisle turned
around, having been caught. \"Neville?\" Ron asked incredulously when the
other boy turned around, followed by an even greater astonished, \"*Zabini*?\"

The two had pulled apart, having been in the middle of a great snog, and
Blaise licked his lips, looking straight at Hermione. She averted her eyes
and told her brain to forget that image, along with the one of seeing the
boys kissing, but it refused her demand, and filed them away somewhere in
the back, instead. Meanwhile, Neville\'s mouth was working, trying to find
something to say, and he sighed defeatedly, unable to think of an excuse
when he looked back to the Slytherin.

Blaise stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned, shrugging his shoulders
in a delicate roll, starting to adopt his Slytherin attitude before he could
fully stop himself. He hated playing the part, but whatever. Ron had crossed
his arms over his chest, having a recurring episode of a recent, hurtful
experience. He glared at Blaise, and then turned around and walked out of
the aisle. Hermione winced as she heard a chair scrape across the stone
floor a few moments later, and gave an apologetic smile to the o boy boys.
Ron sat down with an audible flump, and waited for the others to come and
sit down, knowing that\'s just what Hermione would do.

\"Ron,\" Neville began as he neared the table, Blaise following just behind
him. \"There\'s something I should tell you.\" They pulled out two chairs on
the opposite side of the table, and Hermione walked around to sit down
beside Ron.

\"What? That you\'re skipping off all day to play with the enemy, too? Sorry,
mate, I think I already figured that out,\" he snapped, anger rising.
Hermione rested her head in a hand propped on the table, and waited for
Neville to continue. Ron wouldn\'t calm down right now even if she tried to
get him to, so she just let him fume quietly to the side.

Neville pretty much ignored Ron\'s comments, and looked to Blaise, who nodded
his agreement before Neville turned back to his classmates. \"We know where
Harry went,\" he said sheepishly. He supposed he should have went straight to
the two of them when he\'d found out, not stayed to make out with his
boyfriend in the back of the library, and he felt a bit bad for that. It got
both of their attention, though, and Ron seemed to forget about what he\'d
seen, and said, and gave frustrated gestures for Neville to hurry up and
tell them.

\"How do you know?\" Hermione asked, still confused at how Neville of all
people would know. Harry wouldn\'t have told Neville, would he?

\"I\'m Draco\'s room mate,\" Blaise said, and Hermione realized this was the
first thing the boy had said. \"Harry came into the dungeons and straight
into our room. Draco thought I was asleep, but I heard it all.\" Hermione\'s
jaw was slack, mind boggling at how much of his mind Harry would have to
have lost to go walking into the core of Slytherin territory, and into their
dorms. How did he get inside?

\"So, where\'d they go?\" Ron asked, eyeing the Slytherin warily. He\'d never
really had much to do with Zabini in the past, just being in a couple
classes with him, but that was about it. They didn\'t know a thing about him,
other than what he\'d just mentioned. On the outside, he seemed a bit quiet,
obviously, since he\'d never stuck out in their minds as someone loud and
obnoxious, like some other mentionable Slytherins.

\"The Castle of Durmstrang,\" Blaise said, and watched the shock and confusion
wash over the Gryffindors\' faces. It didn\'t give him a kick, but he had to
admit that Weasley did look a bit disgruntled; he was just telling them what
he knew, and the only reason he was doing that, was because they were
Neville\'s friends. He\'d told Neville because he knew Harry was his friend,
and knew he wouldn\'t blab to the whole school about anything in regards to
Draco, since, well, look at themselves.

Hermione and Ron still hadn\'t said anything, though Hermione looked a bit
more scared now than confused. \"Why?\" she asked, sounding absolutely like
someone he shouldn\'t mess with, but since Blaise was going to answer her
anyway, it didn\'t matter. He knew very well that tone of voice doesn\'t mean
there would be much behind it to back it up.

\"That\'s what we don\'t know,\" he said, with another shrug of his shoulders.
\"Something to do with Snape, I heard, but otherwise I dunno. They seemed to
be talking about something they\'d already talked about, and I didn\'t catch
on. I didn\'t even know Harry was who he was seeing.\"

\"They\'re not \'seeing\', they\'re just fucking,\" Ron said crudely; Harry\'s
byal yal in his eyes still too raw of a wound to take this very well.
Hermione flinched, and so did Neville; she just hoped Ron wouldn\'t put his
foot in his mouth. \"I don\'t know how they could even stand to look at each
other for an extended period of time, let alone snog. I\'d never touch a
Slytherin.\" Hermione sighed quietly to herself. \"Yuck\"

Blaise didn\'t say anything, just stared back at Ron in amazement at the open
hostility towards his \'kind\'. He couldn\'t help but start to sink in on
himself; not that he was embarrassed about being who he was, he was quite
proud, but just because he hated how he was treated because of it. He
cleared his throat softly, looking down at the table, unable to look at the
flaring hatred on the red haired boy\'s face. Ron suddenly got a very
startled look on his face, as if he didn\'t realize what he\'d just said until
it was too late. \"Sorry,\" he mumbled, looking down at the table, as well.

\"It\'s okay,\" Blaise said. \"I wouldn\'t touch many of them myself, but I know
what you meant.\" Ron looked up at him, and he clearly felt bad. Blaise had
never done anything to him, other than plain association to Draco, but even
that was a bit far fetched, even in Ron\'s mind. \"It\'s okay.\"

Ron nodded, but still looked a bit ashamed of what he\'d said, though he was
warring on that in his mind. He\'d said what he thought, and that much was
true, but he\'d honestly never \'met\' a Slytherin before. His only experience
was with Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy, and he supposed he had a prejudiced
opinion because of that. Zabini seemed like an alright guy, though, and
Neville certainly seemed to like him.

Neville coughed obviously, clearly new to interrupting a moment between
people. The three\'s attention was drawn to him, \"Well, we\'ve got some
homework to finish. I\'ll see you guys later.\" He smiled at his friends, and
Blaise started to stand from his chair, and gave a small smile, that seemed
to come off as more of a smirk on the left side, but he tried. Hermione did
seem like an okay girl, though a little overdone on her school enthusiasm,
he thought as he made his way back to where he and Neville had been before
they snuck off to make out.

Hermione waved at the two of them, smiling back at Neville as he left, and
still wondering about his apparent boyfriend. She and Ron were left sitting
at the table, listening to the boys\' retreating footsteps. Maybe if Neville
and Blaise could make it work, Harry and Draco weren\'t so bad of a pair. Ron
looked over at Hermione, and could just tell she was thinking the same thing
as him, though most likely in a more positive manner.

He knew he might be over reacting, but for the love of Merlin, was everyone
going insane? He had to admit, when it came down to it, and all he was left
in bed thinking about before he fell asleep was what was bothering him, he
did have to admit to himself that they two *did* have things in common. Even
though they were seemingly on the opposite ends of the scale on just about
everything on the first glance.

Ron had kept his eye on Zabini when he was sitting there in front of him,
and they seemed to be a good match. Their personalities really did go well
together, even though neither Hermione nor Ron knew Blaise from a hole in
the ground. If it came down for them to describe him, they\'d have to say he
was almost a Slytherin version of Neville himself. Minus a bit of the
clumsiness, add a bit more intelligence (though by no offence to Neville),
not too drastically different looks, and they\'d have a match.

He couldn\'t really blame Neville for being concerned; he always was a good
friend over tearsears. All of the Seventh Year boys had noticed Harry wasn\'t
there in the morning, but Ron did play a part in encouraging them all that
Harry was probably fine and just fell asleep in a hallway somewhere. They
all laughed, not making fun of Harry, but knowing that he did wander off at
night, and it wouldn\'t surprise them too much. Ron remembered, though, that
Neville did look a bit disbelieving. He wouldn\'t have known the truth then,
anyway, since he hadn\'t spoken to Zabini until lunch, it seemed.

Hermione looked back at Ron, and shrugged. She supposed they should just go
back to lunch, now that they knew what happened to Harry. What would
potentially happen to Harry is what worried her, and she needed some time to
think about this. Neville was known for believing cock and bull stories, but
this just didn\'t seem like a lie, or even a half truth, since Blaise
obviously knew what he was talking about, being friends with Draco.

They\'d have to tell someone, she concluded, watching Ron stand up beside
her. He pushed his chair in and offered her a hand. She smiled and took it,
letting him pull her up, and he smiled back. They walked back to the Great
Hall, deciding to finish their lunch, since they couldn\'t do anything more
today until after classes. Ron didn\'t let go of her hand, and Hermione
couldn\'t stop the small smile from permanently sticking itself to her lips
all the way there.

@>*~