Dragon Hunt

Ron groaned when he and Hermione had stepped into Harry’s bedroom. He could hear the other boy moaning in a way that could only mean one thing and Ron so didn’t want to wake his best friend from that. For multiple reasons.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. “Big baby,” she muttered as she approached the sleeping figure. “Harry,” she said loudly, forcefully. Harry let out a whimper and snuggled deeper into his blankets. “Harry!” she shouted this time. He seemed to burrow even deeper into the bed to escape her voice. “Oh, enough of this!” she groaned, leaning forward, snatching the blanket away from Harry and then moving to grab Harry by the shoulders to shake him.

But the moment she touched him, Harry snapped into wakefulness. He scrambled away from Hermione’s touch, and his eyes narrowed warningly. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped lowly.

Hermione tossed her hands up in defeat. “Fine, I won’t touch you, but you have to talk to us.”

“I want to sleep,” Harry replied lowly, already preparing to slump back into the comfort of the bed.

“No,” Hermione said firmly. “You are going to talk to us.”

“No, I’m going to sleep,” Harry yawned, his eyes beginning to fall closed.

“Why?” Hermione asked simply, reaching to touch him again. Again he flinched away. “All right, that’s it!” she shrieked. “Ron, grab him.”

“What?” Ron asked dumbly, looking between the two.

“Do it now!” Hermione shouted as Harry moved to escape his friends. Ron simply reacted, tackling Harry onto the bed, Hermione soon joining them. Before long, the three friends were an exhausted pile of limbs that would have looked quite obscene if they weren’t fully clothed. The comforting droning had turned into the shrieking again.

“Please, no!” Harry shouted. “Don’t touch me! The sound stops when you touch me.”

“What sound?” Hermione asked, not backing down.

“The rumbling purr. It’s the only thing that lets me sleep!” Harry shouted, tears escaping from his eyes. “Please I need to sleep!” The shriek was getting angrier and frightened.

“Why? You’ve been asleep with little break for almost two weeks now Harry!”

“But I can see him in my sleep. I can feel him. I’m with him when I sleep,” Harry sobbed.

Hermione softened. “You have to get over him,” she said gently.

“No!” Harry sobbed. The shriek was starting to cause Harry’s chest to ache. It was so angry, and scared, and hurt. “I—“

“He’s dead, Harry,” Ron pointed out. Hermione almost rolled her eyes at Ron’s firm grasp of the obvious. But she stopped when the red head continued. “You’re not. It’s time you start living again.”

“I can’t,” Harry cried. “Not without him.” The shriek was hurting him. He needed the comforting drone back. He needed it to let him to sleep.

“Harry,” Hermione said firmly, yet gently. “You can’t wallow in this grief. You have other things to worry about. You have a dragon and a dark lord hunting you. You need protect yourself and—“

“No!” Harry whined, confused by Hermione’s words. “I don’t want to protect myself. Let them come. Let them take me. I don’t care! I want to d—“

“Don’t you dare!” Ron shouted. “Don’t you dare say that, Harry. Not to two people who would mourn you for the rest of their lives. Don’t you dare.” Hermione looked at Ron with a new admiration.

“Please just let me go so that I can sleep,” Harry begged.

“No, Harry,” Hermione said seriously. “Let’s make a deal.”

“No!” Harry snapped. “It’s my life. You don’t get to bargain it!”

Hermione continued as if she hadn’t heard. “We will let you do what ever you want for twelve hours a day, if for the other twelve you live your life. You play chess with Ron, and do your summer assignments, and talk with the others in this house, and participate in all the discussions about how to keep you alive.”

“No!” Harry could hear that panicked whine in his ears as he continued to struggle to free himself from his two best friends.

“If you don’t agree, mate,” Ron said. “We won’t give you a moment’s peace. Not a single moment. I’ll get Fred and George and Ginny and Hermione and I and we’ll all take turns hounding you.”

Harry listened to that noise. It was so pained. He needed the pain to stop. “I’ll agree on one added condition. No one touches me,” he growled.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look of confusion. What was Harry’s new hatred for touch? But they nodded and Hermione responded. “Agreed. Now, out of bed. Get a shower because frankly, you stink, and if you are not down in the kitchen in thirty minutes, we’re coming back up here. If you break the rules, so do we.”



Harry stared at himself in the mirror. He looked pale, and thin, and exhausted. And even he admitted his hair was completely out of control. But he couldn’t help but smile. That soothing, constant drone was back. And it wasn’t making him weak like it had before. It wasn’t making his knees weak and eyes fall closed. He wondered if he was just growing used to it, or if Draco was changing his strategy for his demise.

He refused to think about that now. He didn’t care if he lived or died. Why should he? He was worn down. He could admit it. He was just worn down and worn out and tired of life. A year ago he’d felt like this, when Sirius had to go into complete hiding and he was faced with another summer with a family that despised him and the dementors had forced him to feel all that pain, all that loss. He still felt it was pathetic that a year ago his happiest memory was simply hearing his parents voice, something that was probably a pathetic delusion anyway.

But now, his best and happiest memories were wrapped up in Cedric and therefore in the pain of the loss of him. “So there is no such thing as happiness,” he said to himself softly. Oddly enough, he smiled at that statement. But that comforting drone changed subtly and sounded concern in Harry’s head.

Harry didn’t have time to contemplate that change. He knew Ron and Hermione would stick to their threats.



“He’s made no further attempts,” Sirius said. He turned to face Snape. “Do you think that means he’s coming back to himself? Getting his memory back? Gaining control?”

Snape shook his head. “No. Fortunately I am pretty well versed in the curse on the Malfoy line. The shortest amount of time that his been documented of having a Malfoy return to themselves is one week. It’s been two. And, the amount of time it takes to fully adjust back is proportionally the degree of change. And never has a Malfoy completely transformed into a creature as different from human as a dragon.”

Remus shook his head. “I don’t understand what’s going on. He has never actually made an attack on Harry. It’s more like he’s guarding Harry than hunting him.”

“The way Dumbledore described his conversation with Draco before the summer began made it very clear that Harry would need protection from the Malfoy at the time and directly after the change. We keep that protection up and wait for Charlie’s arrival,” Sirius said.

“Molly said he would be here before the end of the week, as soon as that egg he’s monitoring hatches,” Remus assured him. “Hopefully he’ll be able to help interpret the situation.”

“I wish we could get someone here sooner. We could contact the Ministry—“

“No!” Remus snapped. “If we contact the ministry, it puts you at risk.”

“Besides, Draco will be listed as a dangerous creature, hunted, and killed. That’s unacceptable,” Snape said calmly.

“He is a dangerous creature!” Sirius argued. “Let them get rid of him.”

“That’s my godson you’re talking about, dog,” Snape said, not bothering to add any emotion. Sirius’s emotional outbursts were nothing to be fed with his own emotions.

“I’m talking about a dragon!”

“Enough!” Remus interrupted. “We wait for Charlie, just as you said. Now stop arguing.”

“Harry!” Sirius said happily. He stood from the table and moved to hug his godson, but the moment his arms were outstretched, Harry stepped back.

“That’s my condition. No touching,” Harry said dully.

Sirius nodded. He would agree to anything to see some progress in Harry’s behavior. “Okay. But you’re eating breakfast, right?”

Harry nodded even as he slid into the chair. He ignored the eggs and sausages that were pushed in front of him in favor or a small bowl of hot cereal. He ate slowly and without comment. And that was pretty much the extent of Harry’s attempts to ‘live’ for the next four days.

Each day he would wake and shower and eat breakfast with Sirius and Remus. Ron would beat him at wizard’s chess. He’d eat a small lunch with Ron and Hermione and then all Hermione to torture him with homework until dinner, which he’d eat without comment before sitting in front of the fire and staring directly into it for a few hours before crawling back up the steps to sleep. He didn’t speak unless spoken to and his answers were usually short and didn’t leave room for conversation. And anytime anyone reached toward him to touch him, he’d flinch away as if he’d been burned.

It wasn’t until the fourth day that anything changed. It wasn’t until that day that Harry had gotten at ease enough with the new routine to slip into unconsciousness while still in front of the fire. He drifted to sleep and into another dream of his beautiful Cedric.

. . . “Shhh!” Cedric giggled as he pulled Harry deeper into the library. It was late, not ten minutes before they would be kicked out, but Cedric seemed determined to make the best use of those few minutes. “I want to suck you off,” he breathed in Harry’s ear, pushing him against a shelf of books.

“We’ll get caught!” Harry proclaimed, but couldn’t find it in himself to truly protest. It seemed everytime he was in Cedric’s presence, he was half hard anyway. And when Cedric had boldly announced his intentions, half hard had become rock hard.

“You love it,” Cedric teased, already having pulled Harry’s robes open and now working on his belt. He quickly completed his work, tugging Harry’s pants and boxers just low enough to free the thick piece of flesh that had brought Cedric so much pleasure. “Beautiful,” Cedric breathed.

The hot breath on the sensitive head of Harry’s engorged cock forced a shutter from his body. At that Cedric giggled, pulled out a wand and tossed up a hasty silencing charm. Harry was anything but quiet. And then the breath became teasing kisses, then licks, and the suddenly, his entire length was swallowed into that beautiful mouth and his entire body was shaking as he came to completion. And then he slumped to the floor, panting as he pulled Cedric to him, tongues clashing as he attempted to taste as much of himself as he could find.

Cedric pulled away just as breathlessly. “We have to get out f here before Pince comes searching,” he breathed as he pulled Harry to his feet. Again they kissed, even as Cedric worked to tuck Harry back into his pants and smooth out his robes. “You look so gorgeous when you’ve just gotten off,” he said smugly.

Harry leaned forward, about to kiss his lover, then a screeching voice could be heard. “The library is closed! What are you boys still doing here?” Madame Pince shrieked.

“Just making sure to put all the books we used away in the proper place, Madame Pince,” Cedric said politely. “We’ll be going now.” Cedric headed for the door while Harry headed back for to the table he’d been working at to get his bag before following.

He jogged through the dark corridors, intent on tracking down Cedric and returning the favor before they were forced to separate in order to return to their respective dorms, but as he turned the last corner, he froze when he heard an all too familiar voice. “Diggory!” that silky voice called. Harry watched his lover stop and turn towards the source of that voice. Harry ducked down, looking around the edge of the corner as the scene unfolded.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Cedric snapped. Even Harry was surprised with the contempt in Cedric’s voice.

“I saw you sucking off Potter in the library,” Malfoy said flatly. Harry couldn’t interpret his tone.

Cedric laughed. “Jealous, Malfoy?” he snapped. “Jealous that I’m fucking The-Boy-Who-Lived while you can only touch yourself and dream?” Harry felt a stab of pain when his lover called him the-Boy-Who-Lived. Why would Cedric call him that?

“In it together, are you? The tournament? Trading secrets? Helping eachother out?” Malfoy asked. “Is that the only reason you’re with him?”

“None of your concern, Deatheater!” Cedric ground out. “Now leave!” Before Draco could react, Cedric had jogged off, disappearing in search of his own dorm. Draco just stood there dumbly and stared. Harry wasn’t much better, but he'd managed to slink back to Gryfinndor tower.

It was actually the painfully sad screeching that woke him. He jolted upright and looked around the dark room, only a few dying embers allowed any light in. He was sick of it! Sick of that sound! Sick of depending on it for sleep, for comfort! It was maddening to depend on something trying to kill you for comfort. He was sick of it! Sick of life!

Before the thoughts had run through his head, he was out the door. He knew he’d set off alarms within the house. He knew that it would only be a few short moment until his godfather and everyone else was out here trying to stop him. Hopefully those few moments would be enough.

Harry ran across the street into the grassy park. He ran directly at the silver serpent that was curled up and whining. But as Harry approached, that whine turned slowly back into the comforting rumble Harry depended on. He stared at the piercing ice blue eyes and shouted. “Kill me!” he screamed. “Get it over with and kill me!”

The dragon lifted its head from its place resting on its outstretched front legs and cocked its head to the side, giving Harry a look that couldn’t be described as anything but confusion. And then it started to change: the shining, mirror-like silver turned white, the scales receded, then the limbs themselves began to shift and shrink. The dragon was morphing into a human, a very nude human with long alabaster limbs and silky white-blond hair. The next thing Harry knew, he was looking the human Draco Malfoy in the eye. “Kill me!” Harry shouted. “Please, let it end.” Harry was panting with rage and desperation.

Draco cocked his head to the side in confusion just as his dragon self had. He took a slow, graceful step forward. They were barely an arms length apart. That comforting rumble was so seductive now. Draco’s hand rose in the air; his palm moved to hover next to Harry’s face. Harry’ eyes fell closed, waiting for Malfoy to reach forward and snap his neck. “Let it end quickly,” he whispered.

“Get away from him!” someone shouted. Next thing he knew, he was being pulled backwards by strong arms. His eyes snapped open, but the beautiful man was gone, replaced with the beautiful beast. And that comforting, seductive rumble was replaced with the panicked and angry screech.

Harry let himself be dragged back into the house as the dragon roared and took to the sky and a battle ensued: flashes of lights, bursts of flame, and shouted curses. “What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?!” Sirius shouted. “He could have killed you!”

“I don’t care!” Harry shouted back, though he didn’t struggle from the position he was in, pinned to the wall with his feet barely brushing the ground.

“How dare you say that?!” his godfather shouted. “Forget about how much it would hurt those of us who love you, would mourn you and miss you! Your mother died for you! You have the responsibility to live.”

“But I’m so tired,” Harry complained. He could still hear the battle raging and the panicked dragon.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone, Harry,” Sirius said gently, allowing Harry to slide down the wall and take his weight onto his own legs again, but he didn’t release Harry, didn’t back away. He forced Harry to maintain eye contact. “You need to find comfort in your friends and your family, or you’ll go mad.”

“I find comfort in sleep,” Harry argued, pushing Sirius away roughly. He stomped past him and ran up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door shut.