Twisted Faerie Tales

Author's Note: Okay, so here is the next and final installment of the overly long Little Red Riding Hood tale. Thanks again to Laurel for being my beta for this story and thanks to Gareth for requesting it.

Little Red Riding Hood: Part 2

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I got up before Harry, who had apparently dozed off at some point in the night after all. I grabbed my things and debated setting out on the next day’s journey to Grandma’s house without him, but in the end I figured that would have been rude after his begrudging hospitality. Even if I had to continue sleeping on the ground, at least I had his roof and wards to help keep me safe. The deeper we got into the woods the more perilous it would become.

Still, the company would be awkward at best and I worried about having to be alone with him for several days over our journey. I should have just kept my hands to myself: if I had I wouldn’t be having this problem now. As I pulled on a change of clothes from the bags Harry had been kind enough to enlarge for me the night before, I heard Harry stir in his sleep.

I went over and shook him lightly, trying to wake him up. “Draco,” he groaned and my heart clenched at the way he used my name like it was an exotic fruit he’d just bitten into.

“I’m here,” I told him, careful not to get too close. He woke up with a start and I moved away, turning back to my bags.

“Are you leaving?” he asked, his tone a bit panicked.

“Not without you,” I told him honestly. “I was just pulling out some breakfast.”

“Oh.” I was pleased to hear the relief in his voice and wondered briefly what it was he had been dreaming about before I woke him, not that it mattered given our already tenuous relationship. I watched him dress quickly out of the corner of my eye, throwing the red cloak over him last before taking a seat across from me. I offered him up half of what I’d pulled out of my bag and he accepted it, tearing off a piece of cheese and popping it into his mouth. “About last night,” he began carefully, but I shook my head.

“I’d rather just forget it,” I muttered. “I heard you loud and clear.”

“I don’t think you did,” he said, looking both hurt and slightly defensive. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Can we just drop it, please?” I asked, too tired to rehash it all over again. I’d done enough of that the night before when I should have been sleeping.

Harry bit sharply into his bottom lip as if physically halting himself from saying anything more. “Fine,” he replied at last before slumping his shoulders in defeat. We finished eating and then hurriedly packed to get on our way.

Judging by what I could see of the sun I estimated it was already after eight in the morning, so we had a lot of ground to cover before we could set up camp again. We remained silent in our walk at first, but Harry didn’t seem to like it that way. “So, what’s your grandmother like?” he asked me out of the blue.

“She’s nice enough,” I replied. “She’s my favorite relative even if she is a bit off.”

“How do you mean?” Harry asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Well, she’s not as bad as father, but she still has this notion that purebloods are better than everyone else,” I muttered.

A harsh laugh escaped his lips and he looked over at me with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you think the same thing?”

“Not anymore,” I answered vaguely.

“Since when?” he scoffed, clearly thinking I was the same person he’d met in Madam Malkin’s before first year. I hated to break it to him that I’d been slowly but surely parting myself with that arrogant boy since fifth year and I’d all but eradicated that side of me when I stood at the top of the Astronomy Tower with my wand leveled at Albus Dumbledore.

It was a telling thing for me to figure out that I didn’t have it within me to commit murder. At that point I knew it would only be a matter of time before my father or the Dark Lord discovered what I thought at the time to be a weakness, and come after me. It was a miracle that Severus had come along and done the deed for me so that no one would know how terrible I felt just threatening the man’s life.

“Awhile,” I answered at last, trying to keep things light. I didn’t need Harry’s pity or his ill given comfort.

“So, you no longer think you’re better than me?” he prodded, his voice teasing now as if trying to egg me on.

“I’m better than you at Potions, and probably Transfiguration, too,” I told him. “But probably not much else,” I admitted as an afterthought. He could do what he liked with the knowledge and I was trying not to care that he saw me in a poor light. It was my own fault after all.

“So, you admit that I’m a better Seeker,” he goaded, a smile on his face that I wanted to wipe off with my lips.

“For now, but just you wait, Potter. I’ll beat you before long,” I boasted. I would to; I was practicing on every chance I got to be faster and smoother than him.

“There is only one year left,” he reminded me, bringing me back down to Earth.

“I suppose I’ll have to work harder then,” I whispered, more to myself than to Harry.

“There is no way you’ll beat me this year,” he replied. “You’ll be begging for a rematch and then I’ll have to meet up with you afterward and beat you again.”

“I think it’ll be you begging me for a rematch,” I countered.

“Impossible,” he chimed in a singsong voice, but his face was all smiles.

“Maybe we can have a little game when we get to the house then,” I suggested with a smirk. Maybe I was already good enough to beat him, but even if I wasn’t it would still be fun to fly with him again.

“I’d like that,” he replied, and I could tell by the flush of his cheeks that he was being honest and that it embarrassed him to be getting along with me.

We were silent again after that, as we trudged along in the underbrush. I broke the silence this time though. “I half expected to see Weasley and Granger tagging along,” I remarked. “I’m surprised they let you out of their sight for this long.”

“They don’t know where I am,” Harry admitted. “I couldn’t chance them coming to find me.”

“Ginny’s the only one who even knew I’d left, and that’s only because she caught me packing,” he muttered. “She promised to keep it a secret long enough for me to escape and get a head start.”

The girlfriend. That’s right, no wonder he hadn’t wanted to be with me the night before. He didn’t want to cheat on the She-Weasel. “You two still dating then?” I asked, secretly hoping he didn’t answer. I didn’t need to hear about their escapades.

“Me and Gin?” he balked. “No, not since the funeral.” I knew which funeral he was talking about without having to ask. “I sort of… never mind,” he muttered.

“What?” I demanded. “Oh, come on. You can’t just act like you’re going to give me juicy gossip and then falter.”

Harry laughed and shook his head. “You sound like Hermione.”

I cringed and then tried to shake it off. “I suppose there are worse people to sound like than Granger,” I conceded and he looked at me sharply, his eyebrow raised in confusion. “So blab.”

He took a deep breath and then muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like ‘I can’t believe I’m telling you this’, before proceeding. “I sort of used the war as an excuse to break up with her.”

“Gasp!” I said aloud with undeniable sarcasm, making him roll his eyes. “You might be the Gryffindor Golden Boy but you are allowed to fib from time to time, especially if you’re only trying to protect someone else’s feelings; after all, what’s more Gryffindor than that?”

“I know,” he huffed. “I just feel bad because once this is all over she’s expecting us to get back together.”

“And you’re not,” I clarified.

“Definitely not,” he replied firmly.

“Why?” I asked, honestly curious. “She seems nice enough. For a Weasley,” I amended. I might have turned over a new leaf but that leaf still had no warm and fuzzy feelings of the ginger persuasion.

Harry just chuckled and swatted my arm playfully. “She is nice, she’s just not… I don’t know. Right for me,” he answered thoughtfully.

“Because you’re into men,” I teased and then regretted it the moment I did. It was going to bring up memories of last night and land us back in the thick of awkwardness again when we’d finally pulled out of it.

“Exactly,” he replied, surprising me. He seemed to be accepting of it when I was still reeling from the fact that I found Harry attractive. It wasn’t the fact that Harry was of the male persuasion that had me reeling, more the fact that it was Harry bloody Potter of all people, though, the fact that he was also a boy didn’t help me feel any more confident.

“How, I mean, why… er…” I stammered, glancing at him and willing him to understand my meaning. Why did I constantly lose myself around him?

Still, he didn’t disappoint. He just smiled weakly and apparently knew what I was trying to ask, even though I didn’t quite know myself. “I’ve known for a little while.”

“Since when?” I asked, utterly astonished. I had assumed he’d been with the She-Weasel, but I hadn’t thought Harry had been with another boy before.

“Since I realized I didn’t really like snogging Ginny as much as I probably should as a hormonal teenage boy,” he admitted. “Oh, and I’ll kill you violently if you spill a word of this to anyone.”

I chuckled and gestured around the empty forest. “Who would I tell?”

“I mean afterward, of course,” he said, rolling his eyes before resuming his story. “She begged me to go further than snogging, but I didn’t want to. I wasn’t attracted to her that way after all.”

“So, you two never…” I asked, my voice trailing off.

He made a face of mild disgust and shook his head. “No.”

I couldn’t have been more shocked by his answer and at the same time more relieved than I had expected. “Who was the boy then?”

“Pardon?” he asked, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Who was the boy you left your girlfriend for?” I clarified.

“No one!” he nearly shouted. “I didn’t leave her because of any one boy. I left her because I found all of them more attractive than her.”

“All of them?” I asked skeptically.

“Well, not all of them, no,” he laughed.

“You’ve never been with anyone?” I asked, surprised only because I would have assumed the Hero of the Wizarding World would have had no problems getting laid.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you last night,” he replied meekly, looking as if he wanted to change the subject.

So, Harry Potter was a virgin, just like me. Who would’ve guessed? Still, Harry looked uncomfortable, so I changed the subject for him… to something potentially more uncomfortable. “Whose face is it you wank to then if there is no boyfriend?”

His mouth gaped open as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just asked him. Well, he’d better believe it because I wanted to know who I was up against. I already knew I was out of the running, but at least if I discovered he preferred fat hairy men or people with large bulbous noses I could rest easy knowing I was just too good looking for him.

“I’m not telling you that,” he stated plainly when I didn’t let up.

“Oh, come on,” I goaded, but he didn’t get a chance to respond before we both heard a vicious snarl from nearby and leapt together, back-to-back, watching the forest all around us. “You heard that right?” I confirmed in a soft whisper. It was getting to be dusk and I knew all the bad things came out at night to eat.

“What do you suppose it was?” he asked me. Somehow my hand had ended up within his, who grabbed whom I didn’t know.

“Werewolf,” I stated. “I know the sound all too well. One of Voldemort’s favorite threats is werewolf attack.”

“I remember,” Harry breathed, his fingers lacing through mine.

“Why did you have to go and wear a bright red hood,” I chastised. “We’ll never be able to hide now.”

“Go hide on your own if you’re so worried about it,” he hissed, but his hand didn’t release mine and I made no move to leave either.

With his free hand, Harry took his wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm over us. I could feel it breaking like a runny egg over our heads. Not a second too soon, either, because just as he did, the wolf came into sight. He was unmistakable even in the waning sunlight, his fur mottled and filthy. “Fenrir,” I whispered, but Harry squeezed my hand to remind me to be quiet.

The beast sniffed the air and moved toward where we stood, exposed but for a Charm that wouldn’t allow him to see us unless he touched us. It wasn’t looking to promising that we would make it out of this alive. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry raise his wand and level it at the monster. I would have cheered him on if not for the fact that I was trying to stay quiet. ‘Kill him, kill him before he kills us’, I silently pleaded.

It was then that he noticed a scuffle behind him and our attention was pulled toward a pack of tiny wolves trailing behind Fenrir. They ranged in size from that of a large cat to about half Fenrir’s size and I knew at once what they were.

As a child, instead of cautionary tales about the boogieman to keep me in line, I heard tales about Fenrir Greyback. “Best be a good little boy,” Mother would say, “or Fenrir Greyback will bite you and make you part of his army of children werewolves.”

I shuddered beside Harry and hoped the pack of wolves would move on. I could see Harry falter, as he must have guessed on his own what those little wolves were. Greyback continued along the trail but one of the smaller wolves must have caught our scent because he suddenly turned from the group and came right for us.

His pointed teeth were bared and that little orange wolf was probably the most frightening thing I had ever seen. I’d always had a secret terror about werewolves, probably from my family conditioning me all my life to fear them. Part of me knew it was unwarranted, and I might have gotten over it by now had I not met Greyback in the flesh. To me, that beast was more fearsome than Voldemort ever could be. Even the child wolf terrified me. Not only could a single scratch from those small talons make us both werewolves for the rest of our lives, but all the little brat had to do was touch us and we’d be exposed to Fenrir.

Harry cast a series of silent spells in quick succession and I had no clue what he was doing, but the wolf suddenly seemed confused and began sniffing the ground we’d just walked on and tried to pick up our scent again. I’d never been so thankful to have Harry Potter on my side as I had been in that moment. Had I been out here alone I would have been dead meat by now, literally.

As we watched the tiny wolf lift its nose to the air and meander around the path we’d recently taken, we had foolishly lost sight of Fenrir. When we heard a low snarl right beside us my heart caught in my throat and I couldn’t breathe as my eyes flicked to the side and I saw Fenrir stalking us in my peripheral vision. Ever the star Seeker, Harry reacted faster than I thought possible, throwing me out of the way as he faced Fenrir alone.

They circled one another as I looked on, eyes narrowed dangerously as they danced. Harry’s wand was leveled on the wolf’s chest, and the baby wolves were all moving toward me looking hungry, which I didn’t care for.

“Your wand won’t work here, Potter,” the man growled, his tone ominous and taunting.

“How much are you willing to wager?” Harry spat. “Your life?”

Fenrir’s yellowed eyes seemed to appraise Harry as he stalked him, snapping his filthy nails together, readying his pounce. “You’re bluffing.”

“We’re just trying to get through the woods,” Harry told him. “Just let us go and no harm will come to you.”

Greyback seemed to find this a humorous statement and guffawed in his raspy voice. “Harm me? Do you really think you can harm me with that useless piece of wood?”

The smaller wolves were closing in on me, surrounding where I stood, each of them eyeing me like I was their first meal for weeks, and perhaps I would be. “Harry,” I whispered, and he acknowledged my predicament with a slight nod without looking away from his quarry.

A blast erupted, followed by a snarling howl and I was too busy watching the other wolves to see what Harry had done. The smaller werewolves went to their master’s side and Harry grabbed my hand. “Run!” he shouted fiercely and I obeyed at once.

I don’t know how long we ran for, but it was long past dark before we stopped. I leaned against a tree, my chest heaved for air and my legs were sorer than they had ever been. Harry looked in a similar state, but he held it better, looking far calmer than I felt.

“Thank you,” I rasped when I could breathe well enough to talk.

“You would have done the same for me,” he responded as he set up his tent.

“The problem is I couldn’t have, so thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you back there,” I told him honestly.

“You would have been eaten,” Harry replied and looked suitably guilty when I shuddered.

“Get inside,” he ordered and I did, but Harry didn’t follow me right away. I could vaguely hear him outside casting very powerful wards around our tent and I hoped it was enough. I had food out by the time he made it in. He looked distracted as he sifted through his own bag but then a look of triumph blossomed on that face and he pulled out a shiny orange parcel.

“Dessert,” he explained and I shot him a soft smile as he broke the Pumpkin Pasty in half and offered it to me. “I think it’s warranted after that narrow escape.”

“What did you do to him?” I asked. I hadn’t stuck around to see for myself.

“Remember what I did to you last year?” he whispered, his face torn as if it had been me who had hit him with the Sectumsempra curse.

“How could I forget?” I muttered. “I still have a scar.”

He winced and nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ve been thinking about that all day,” he whispered.

“Is it that horrid?” I asked, going on the defense. “Is that why you threw me out of bed last night?”

“No!” he shouted, looking taken aback. “And I didn’t throw you out of bed,” he huffed as an afterthought. “Last night… I just couldn’t.”

“Right. Because you don’t care about me,” I grumbled, pulling my knees up to my chest and poking at the bit of bread I hadn’t eaten yet.

Harry sighed and fell where he sat, his back against the floor and his gaze at the ceiling. “I told you that you didn’t understand what I meant.”

“Then explain it to me properly,” I demanded.

Harry looked over at me, and I’m not sure what he saw, but whatever it was softened his gaze. “I’m a virgin, Malfoy. It might sound girlish or trite, but I want my first time to be with someone who loves me and that I love back,” he sighed. “If I had let myself go much further with you last night, I wouldn’t have been able to stop.”

My heart rate sped up without my permission and I just sat there for a moment trying to absorb what he’d said. I had been an arse last night, assuming I could have a casual fling with the Boy-Who-Lived just because I found him attractive and vice versa. I was a virgin too, but I didn’t hold such high values on the fact as Harry apparently did.

“So, it’s not that I don’t care about you. It was wrong of me to say that. It’s just…” he continued but his voice trailed off at the end.

“You’re not in love with me,” I finished.

He bit roughly into his bottom lip, and refrained from answering. “I think we’ll be safe in here,” he mentioned, changing the subject.

“I hope so.” I didn’t think Fenrir would give up so easily, but if Harry hurt him badly enough, he might at least be out of commission until morning, and then it would be harder to corner us than it had been this evening.

Lost in the horror show that had been my life only moments ago, I didn’t notice Harry shedding his clothing. When I looked up he was climbing into his bed, I decided there was no point staying up any longer if he wasn’t, so I rummaged in my own sack for my sleeping bag.

“Could I persuade you to sleep up here tonight?” Harry asked unsteadily, obviously shaken by the earlier events. I guessed he was dwelling on what had just happened in our shared silence as well. As much as I wanted to reject him and keep a safe distance away, I couldn’t say no to those pleading emerald eyes.

Without a word I shoved the sleeping bag aside and walked over to where he sat looking anxious. When I climbed into bed beside him, he snuggled up against me, as if clinging to me for warmth, but I could tell it was more than that. His body trembled slightly so I held him close, my fingers trailing through his ebony locks and we drifted to sleep that way, curled around one another in friendly safety. As I slowly slipped into unconsciousness I wondered if half of Harry’s reasoning wasn’t wrong after all. Perhaps I was more in love with the courageous Gryffindor than I had once thought possible.

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In the morning we both felt a lot safer than we had last night, and we had made a lot of headway the day before, especially after out close encounter of the furry kind. I could tell Harry was still keeping a close eye on our surroundings though, and I was glad he was. Neither of us wanted to get caught off guard again. As we walked, we made more small talk. Harry told me about his life with the Dursleys and told him about my drone-like existence at home. It seemed the more we talked the more we had in common.

“Maybe you killed him,” I reasoned after it started getting dark and there was still no sign of Fenrir or his miniature army.

“I doubt it,” Harry muttered darkly, scanning the tree line once more. That time we both saw something move and we stopped at once, clinging to one another as we had the day before.

Carefully he raised his wand and aimed it at the bush we’d seen shake and shift. Just when it looked like Harry was going to send a harmful spell into the offending shrub, it moved again, and this time a small little man in a sharp green suit danced out. My eyes went wide and it seemed Harry stood just as dumbfounded beside me.

The little man stood no higher than my knee, and that included the tall hat he wore, which meant he was really quite tiny indeed. I had no idea they even made such detailed suits for such a miniscule person, but I decided they must, because there he was, wearing pressed green trousers, a lighter green shirt with both a vest and a jacket with tails. It was the most peculiar thing.

“Who are you?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“More importantly, what are you?” I added. I had a hunch what he might be, but I’d never seen one in person.

“I’m a gold keeper, My Lad,” he replied with a wide grin, but Harry just looked confused.

“A leprechaun,” I whispered to Harry, who looked even more confused. “You know, they live at the end of rainbows, they-” I started but Harry cut me off with a sharp look.

“I know what a leprechaun is, I just didn’t think they were real,” he stated plainly.

“Did you think magic and unicorns and house elves were real before you found out about them?” I asked, even though I had no idea what it might be like to not know that those things were real, I didn’t know that for Muggle children those things were ‘myth’.

“Well, no,” he reasoned. “So, is it good?” he asked me with a nod of his head to the little man.

“I’m good so long as you don’t touch my gold,” the leprechaun replied, answering the question instead of me.

“Have you seen any werewolves come through here recently?” Harry asked him directly.

The little man seemed to think on it, and eventually shook his head. “Not since last night. A large one, followed by some smaller ones, made their way around my land late last night, but I paid them no mind. They wouldn’t be the first of their kind to tromp through here.”

“Could you tell which way they were headed?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t released Harry’s hand yet when he squeezed mine.

“North,” the little man replied without hesitation.

Panic set in at his words, and I hoped I was wrong, I hoped that the werewolf wasn’t heading to my grandmother’s house. Harry looked over at me knowingly and I could tell he had the same thing in mind. Fenrir knew where they were headed and was trying to beat them there.

It was already growing too late to continue, they wouldn’t be able to see where they were going for too much longer. “Do you mind if we set up camp on your land?” I asked, remembering the way the leprechaun had worded it.

“Not at all, but I can provide you with better,” he stated with a grin and motioned for us to follow him.

Harry and I shared a silent conversation hoping the little man didn’t notice. I mouthed at Harry, silently asking him if we should go and he merely shrugged as if to indicate that he didn’t know either. Without any real reason not to follow –these creatures were not known to be dangerous unless you tried to steal from them- we accompanied the leprechaun further into the wood. Darkness settled over us as we walked and we were ready to give up and set up Harry’s tent where we stood when we spotted twin amber lights hovering in the distance and realized the man was taking us to his home.

It was a squat cottage built into the trunk of an oversized tree. The thatched roof blended up and into the leaves of the canopy and a door that perhaps came up to my shoulders stood in the center of the home.

“Will we fit?” I asked and the leprechaun simply rolled his eyes and summoned us into the house.

Harry shrugged again and we ducked through the door into the well-lit warmth of a cavernous room. The ceilings were plenty high for us to stand up properly and there was a remarkable amount of space despite the small stature of the home from the outside.

After scanning the home, we looked back to our host and watched in astonishment as the air shimmered around him as if he were wearing a glamour. When the shimmering faded, we saw that the leprechaun was taller than us… and slightly overweight. “The guest rooms are in the back,” he told us, pointing down a long hallway as if it was commonplace for a man to shift sizes so suddenly.

“Er, thanks,” Harry muttered and pulled me along down the corridor. There were four doors, each of them open to reveal quaint bedrooms. I took the first on the right and Harry followed me inside. I looked at him oddly but he didn’t seem to understand.

“We can finally have separate rooms and you want to share with me?” I asked.

“Well… what if he’s mad? I can’t protect you if I’m in another room,” he reasoned.

“Right,” I huffed, not buying it. Why Harry couldn’t just admit that he fancied me was beyond my grasp. His determination to stay close to me, but not too close, was a true test of my self-control and I didn’t know how long I would last. Damn Harry and his mission to drive me mad with desire. “Well, what if I don’t need your protection.”

His eyes went wide with hurt and he slunk out of the room without another word. I felt dreadful the moment he left. What was I thinking? He’d been so kind and generous with me so far and here I was being a prat because I was falling in love with him and he wasn’t doing the same with me.

I heard him open the door directly across from me and I debated going over there and sorting things out, but I decided against it. We were both tired and cranky from walking so far today and on edge from the attack last night. Tomorrow would be a new day and I could apologize then. We covered enough ground that we would probably be reaching my grandmother’s house in the evening tomorrow.

The bed was so soft and downy that I sunk into it and fell instantly asleep with dreams of Harry occupying my mind. We danced under the stars in a golden glade, both wearing flowing robes of pristine white. Harry held me close, his warmth radiating through me as we floated on the air. “Can I keep you?” he whispered against my ear and I leaned in to kiss him.

I woke up soon after that, the memory still keeping me warm and I wished I had gotten Harry to stay with me after all; it would have been nice to wake up in his arms. Dressing as quickly as I could, I bolted over to the other room, apologies pouring out of my mouth.

“I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean to upset you last night.” I declared as I entered his room, but when I went to the bed, I found it quite empty. I panicked for a moment, thinking he had left me here, but then I reasoned with myself that I’d slept in later than usual due to a rather nice dream and he was probably waiting for me in the main living area.

The only one I saw out there though was the leprechaun. “Where is Harry?” I asked.

“Your friend?” he replied and I nodded briskly. “Said he’d meet you up at your grandmother’s.”

I froze in place, my mind reeling. How could he go up there alone? He knew just as well as I did that Fenrir was probably waiting for us, and if he captured Harry he’d surely take him straight to Voldemort. Once on my grandmother’s property both our wands would be functional and we could put up a better fight.

“Damn that foolish Gryffindor!” I shouted and ran out the door, bidding a hasty farewell to our gracious host.

I’d never run so fast in all my life as I did to try and catch up to Harry before he reached my grandmother’s manor. I had no idea how much time he had on me, and I never caught up with him, and by the time I got to my Grandmother’s manor, the sun was already setting over the horizon. I walked up the wide lawn and the front door opened for me automatically. Once inside the foyer, I threw my bags aside and gave an experimental flick of my wand, grinning when I saw the hawthorn flare to life. Taking a deep breath, I wandered into the manor, checking for any signs of Harry’s presence. When I reached the east wing, I saw a light on at the end of the hall. “Harry?” I called, but I got no answer.

“Grandmother?” I tried and this time I got an answer.

“In here, Deary,” Cracked an aged voice as I walked into the dimly lit bedroom. It was sparsely furnished, but there was a large four-poster bed at one end of the room with the curtains mostly drawn.

“Are you in here Grandma?” I asked, carefully walking closer. My heart was thumping as I approached the bed. I could see her silhouette from the angle I stood but not much more. “My, Grandmother, what big eyes you have,” I marveled. I hadn’t remembered her looking quote so wide-eyed the last time I’d visited.

“All the better to see you with, My Dear,” she replied in a sickly manner; obviously she was not at all well. “Come closer so that I may look upon my handsome boy.”

“And my, Grandmother, what large ears you have,” I mentioned.

“All the better to hear you with, My Dear,” she replied. “Do come closer so that I may listen to stories of your journey.”

I was almost to the bed when I saw another form on the bed squirming and the light caught a spark of emerald green. It was Harry, and it was not, of course, my grandmother holding him hostage.

“My, Grandmother. What big teeth you have,” I mentioned, playing along as I tightened my grip on my wand.

“All the better to EAT you with, My Dear!” the werewolf snarled as he pulled back the curtains to reveal that he held a struggling Harry with one claw poised menacingly threatening to cut his throat. His brilliant red cloak stood out in harsh relief against Fenrir’s mangy gray fur, but the crimson color simply reminded me of the blood I would soon see pouring from Harry’s elegant throat if I didn’t do something quickly.

A flash of fear coursed through my body as the mental image of Harry bleeding out while I watched on ran rampant through my mind. I didn’t know what to do; I didn’t know how I could save him. Harry was the strong one, not me!

Harry was being held against Fenrir in such a way that any spell I attempted had to be precise or else it would surely hit the raven-haired boy instead. I steadied myself and ran through all the spells I could recall but none of them seemed appropriate for such a situation. If I used something too powerful and deadly and accidentally killed Harry I would never forgive myself, and anything weak enough for me to feel safe casting in Harry’s direction would only serve to anger Greyback further.

“Take me instead,” I pleaded at last, doing the only thing I could think of. If I could get Harry away from the werewolf, at least we might have a fighting chance of escape.

Greyback merely chuckled, however, apparently thinking I was making a fabulous joke. “You’re quite naive for a Malfoy,” he responded, his voice a throaty rasp. “I don’t have to choose. I can have you both.”

“Fine, but you and I both know that Voldemort will want Potter in one piece,” I reasoned, calling on the Malfoy qualities of persuasion I actually did possess.

Greyback narrowed his eyes but he seemed to be thinking it over. I didn’t let him get too far before I continued. “I, however, would not be missed by the Dark Lord.” That was true enough; my father might throw a tantrum if he found out a lowly minion such as Fenrir had slaughtered his only son, but the fallout wouldn’t be too great.

“Fair enough,” he growled and tossed Harry aside like a rag doll before launching himself at me. His vicious talons were extended and ready to slice through me like soft butter. I shouted the only spell that had been on my lips when his yellow eyes met mine and heard the spell echo through the room before I realized that Harry had shouted the same incantation the moment he recovered from being thrown aside. “Avada Kedavra,” we shouted in unison as jets of green light pierced Fenrir in both the chest and back.

With not one, but two Unforgivables hitting Fenrir, the werewolf had no chance of survival and he fell to the ground at my feet. My heart was still racing and I was gasping for breath as I watched Harry check for a pulse and shake his head. He came to me at once, grabbing me and kissing me deeply.

I blinked twice, not understanding what was going on before throwing caution to the wind and responding in turn. If possible, the kiss was more heated and desperate than even our first and I let myself wade in the depths of pleasure while it lasted. Who knew when Harry’s fickle heart would change its mind and cast me aside once again? I had to make the most of what I was given.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Harry whispered when we broke apart.

“I still have some fight in me yet,” I responded, my eyes flicking to the dead werewolf on the rug beside us. I couldn’t believe I had taken a life, but it was worth it if it meant I had saved Harry’s. I would exchange anyone’s life for Harry’s –even my own. “Where is Druella?” I asked, suddenly rooted with fear.

Harry winced and bowed his head. “I found her in the master bedroom of this wing,” he replied sullenly. I knew just by looking in his eyes what he’d found.

“Is she dead?” I asked softly, my heart already knew the answer but he nodded in confirmation.

“I’ll take care of it,” he announced quickly. “You shouldn’t have to see your grandmother like that.”

A lump formed in my throat as I thought of my poor unsuspecting grandmother becoming werewolf fodder. It wasn’t fair, but at least we’d managed to get her vengeance on the beast.

It was already well into the evening hours, but Harry did as he promised and buried my grandmother in the cemetery behind the manor. There had been a spot marked for her since her death had been looming already, but it didn’t make her violent passing any easier to cope with.

Harry left me alone so that I could pay my final respects while he ran off to get a message to Remus Lupin about the orphaned werewolves now roaming the forest. He seemed to think that Lupin could help tame the children and remove some of the vile brainwashing they’d been subjected to under Greyback’s guidance.

I told Grandmother that I was sorry I hadn’t made it there in time to save her, or that my very presence in the forest had led to her untimely death, but I hoped she was in a better place. I took comfort in the fact that she would have been rather miserable in her last few days and would have been livid if she’d lived through the werewolf attack only to have her pureblood tainted at the very end of her life. I could almost hear her griping about it now.

With heavy footsteps I trudged back to the manor, startled to see Harry’s silhouette watching me from the doorway. As I approached he took my hand and led me upstairs to a room in the opposite wing of where our recent hardships had taken place. I found it thoughtful and, once again, I was glad to have him there with me. His hand gave mine a tiny squeeze as he ushered me into the bedroom.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save her,” Harry muttered as he pulled at the buttons on my shirt, undressing me. “He was already here when I arrived. He ambushed me while I checked her pulse.”

“Why did you leave without me?” I asked, suddenly remembering how angry I should be at him for bailing on me in the first place.

“I thought I could save her and kill Greyback before you arrived. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you,” he whispered, running his fingertips along my cheek in a possessive manner.

He had yet to shed the crimson cloak, but with the hood pushed back, I could see his cheeks flush so darkly they almost competed with the cloak’s brilliant color. “Harry, I-” I began, stammering. I couldn’t bear to hear his rejection again; I couldn’t feel him so close just to have him yanked out of my grasp once more.

Harry’s thin finger pressed against my lips, halting any more blathering on my part. “You saved my life,” he whispered, “but even without that noble deed, I think I’m falling in love with you, Draco Malfoy.”

My breath caught in my throat and Harry smiled slightly at my reaction before gently coaxing me toward the bed that awaited us. I shoved his hand from my lips and crashed into him, the kiss erasing all the bad from our journey as if it had never happened. I loved Harry and he loved me. Anything else was trivial at the moment.

Clothing was ripped away from our bodies and tossed to the side as we scrambled into bed, our eyes never leaving one another. Harry’s gaze raked over me appreciatively and my own throat made a guttural noise at the sight of Harry’s naked form below me. I pressed kisses along his heated flesh, relishing in the moans that met my ears, only pausing as I neared his throbbing erection.

“My, Draco, what a hot mouth you have,” Harry groaned, lust burning deep within his eyes as he stared down at me.

I wrapped my lithe fingers around his member and shot him a wicked smile. “All the better to devour you with, My Dear,” I whispered before taking him into my mouth. Harry’s back arched from the bed at the touch, encouraging me forward. Within moments he was growing tense and gasping in pleasure as I worked him with my mouth and tongue.

“Draco… so close,” he moaned in warning, but I didn’t even pause in my steady rhythm until I heard him groan and shudder and felt his hot seed shoot down my anxious throat. I rolled the salty flavor of him around on my tongue as I moved up and captured his mouth once more. His legs wrapped around my waist and I could feel his yearning almost as acutely as I could feel my own. When he reached down and grasped my cock, I nearly lost my balance as I hovered over him.

I grabbed my wand from where it had been discarded on the bed and I cast the few Charms I knew that might be helpful in this situation. The first slicked us both with a slippery clear substance and the second helped to stretch Harry’s entrance, preparing him for my intrusion. I did the rest with my fingers, making him squirm and writhe beneath me.

His hand still clung to my prick and he began directing it toward his waiting entrance. “My, Draco, what a huge erection you have,” he moaned and my whole body shuddered at his cheeky tone.

“All the better to fuck you with, My Dear,” I groaned in reply as I slid into his tight channel. Even with the preparations, I could tell Harry was uncomfortable, so I shifted inside of him until I found a spot that made Harry cry out and clutch at the bed linens around us. With a smirk, I began thrusting into him more determinedly, each time making sure I grazed that spot that seemed to drive Harry mad with desire. It wasn’t long before his flagging erection had renewed and he was arching on the bed to meet my thrusts.

One hand clutched at his thigh while the other wrapped around his cock, stroking it in time with the rhythm I had built pounding into his arse. I felt his entire body tense around me when I looked up, his eyes were fluttering like mad and before I could stop it Harry’s pleasure boiled over and took us both into screaming orgasms that continued to echo through us for several minutes afterwards.

When I finally collapsed onto the bed beside him, Harry quickly moved to lay his head against my chest, listening to my heartbeat. We’d been through so much together over the past few days, but I felt all of it simply made us a more durable couple. Now that I knew Harry shared my affection, I figured we could weather any storm, even Voldemort when that time came.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged his body tightly to me, smiling when he pressed a kiss to my chest. “My, Draco, what strong arms you have,” he whispered, his breath causing my nipples to stand erect.

“All the better to hold onto you with, My Dear,” I replied, running my hands through his tousled ebony locks.

“And your heartbeat,” he continued. “My, what a strong heartbeat you have.”

“All the better to love you forever with, My Dear,” I replied, before I heard his contented sigh and we both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

FIN

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Author's Note: Yes, yes. cheesy I know, but what else would I do for a happy ending to a fairytale? lol. So, Happy Birthday Gareth! and I hope you all enjoyed the first story in my little collection. Next up will be Cinderella, requested by Laurel. Don't forget to send in your requests if you have any ideas!!