Dreams To Build A Life On

Traps and Rescues ....


Who knew that behind that flighty air-head exterior of Trelawney's, lurked the mind of an evil genius?


After two days of scouring the library, Harry finally found the counter spell he'd been looking for only to discover too late the scroll was booby trapped. The counter spell did it's job quite well and revealed the original handwriting. However, when the trap was sprung the key factors to discover the identity of the author, like his name, fell victim to Ganuni Denynar spell, better known as the Hiding & Seek spell. Basically the spell had the letters scramble themselves and hide amongst the scrolls text.


You haven't lived until you see letters on a page sprout legs and start running about like little children through the wood and using words as if they were trees or bushes to hide behind. The only way you could get the hidden information was to hunt them all down and circle them. Once circled the letters couldn't run away and hide somewhere else on the scroll. Only when you have found all the letters was the spell broke and the scroll returned to its earlier configuration.


Harry softly thudded his head repeatedly on the library table in frustration. Taking a deep breath Harry acknowledged that this was a bit of a set back. *So close and yet so far away.* he thought. This was going to be a pain in the arse but he figured he'd come this far. So, why stop now?


Returning to his dorm room and settling down for the rest of the day, Harry got ready for the long night ahead of him. After five hours of scanning the scroll, he managed to find the letters O, A, & R before the rest of letters made a break for it and he lost them again. Most people would have given up by now but not Harry. No, hope flared within his chest with every letter he discovered. Harry grinned evilly down at the page.


"You can run but you can't hide forever." he whispered. He captured a L when it shivered at his words. Soon he would win this little game and the prize would be someone who would love him unconditionally and forever.


Harry chuckled darkly as he thought of the nights the two of them would spend together. With a warm feeling settling into his heart and other parts of his anatomy, he began the hunt anew. The letters cringed in fear.

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Monday morning in Care of Magical Creatures class wasn't what one would call a good time for Draco. First off he'd had the craziest dream of his life last night about having to hide behind something until someone stopped trying to hunt him down. Weird!


Second, there wasn't enough coffee in this world to deal with what ever *sweet little darling* of a creature Professor Hagrid would introduce them to today. Shaking his head and turned his attention to the class as it began. Draco knew they wouldn't learn anything but, he would try to pay attention as the Professor was a friend of Harry's.


"Hallo everyone! Hurry up now. I gots sumtin exciting to show ye today." Hagrid's booming voice announced. Everyone followed half giant warily to the paddock where Hagrid kept his more lively, ahem, pets. They watched in horror as the creature came into view. There glaring back at them in all its glory was the deadly Yale.

*Oh gods, we're all going to die!* Draco almost said but kept it to himself.


"Ittin he beautiful?" Hagrid asked, not that anyone was about to answer that question. "Which one of ye can be a tellen us what this is?"


No one wanted to draw attention to themselves with the exception of Granger, who's hand was the only one with her hand in the air. *For someone so smart sometimes she was very stupid.* Draco was desperate to say but again he held back opening his mouth. Instead he watched as the Yale zeroed in on the Gryffindor girl with dread.


When Hagrid nodded toward her, Granger stated, "It is a Yale. The Yale is an animal that can be found in Ethiopia, India, and Britain. It is usually either tawny or black of coat. Known to be the size of a horse, the Yale, has the tail of an elephant, the jaws of a boar, and long sharp horns that the Yale can move at will. They are usually used as guards at banks or at temples."


What she'd left out was that the Yale was also known to be a very violent animal that would point one of it's horns forward like a lance at its target and the other back out of harm's way. If for what ever reason the first horn was damaged in battle, that horn would turn back as the other horn was raise to take its place. If either of those horns didn't get you, then you still had to deal with it's two tusk that came out of its mouth just like the boar's head it resembled. In other words, you'd be damn lucky to escape with your life!


Draco felt himself move long before his mind registered what he was doing. There was a scream and shouts as the Yale charged at Granger. Just a moment before she would have been impaled was when Draco made contact with her tackling her out of the way and rolling with her. More screams came from all around him but all that was blocked out in his mind. Draco knew he had to protect himself fast. Shoving Granger behind him, Draco spat out the first spell that his mind could come up with.


"TEGO!" he screamed. The Yale's hooves came down just as the spell was conjured and connected with the magical shield. The creature belted out its anger at being thwarted and beared down on them once more. A second spell was shouted from behind him and it connected with the animal.


Staggering backward, the beast landed on its rump and collapsed to the ground sound asleep. Draco fought his instincts to just kill the thing and be done with it. He knew the Yale had been upset to begin with and had been seeking a target. * Where were the protective spells? Where were the precautions to secure the beast should the need arrive? Hagrid should have known better! Someone could have been killed!*


It wasn't until he dropped his shield that he realized everyone was staring at him in shock. Ignoring them he turned around and looked down at Granger who was as white as a sheet. Her wand was still drawn and trembling but pointed at the beast she had cursed. Crouching down he slowly and carefully removed the wand from her hand. Granger surprised them both and launched herself into his arms. Draco blink at the action but realized she was too freaked out to think clearly.


Patting her awkwardly on the back he whispered in her ear, "Shhh. I've got you. Your okay. Your safe now. Its okay. I've got you. Your safe."


Stupid and redundant but it was all he could do to comfort her. He didn't exactly have any experience in this but he did know who did, Madame Pomfrey. Not giving it a second thought, Draco scooped Granger up in his arms like one would a child and made his through the crowd and breezed past the blubbering idiot he called a Professor. There would be hell to pay for what happened today but right then he didn't give a damn. Sighing to himself, Draco continued to take the girl in his arms to the infirmary.

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A/N: Please note that my computer was crashed by a hacker and now I'm trying to remember all the things I've written and lost. So, hang in there with me. I'm posting all of my stories unbetaed until I can A)retrieve my lost work or B) either get time to beta it myslef or find someone else who will.

If anyone would like to beta, PLEASE, email me ASAP.

As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it. FEED THE MUSES... REVIEW!!!

ta my lovies,

Juno