The Rogue Prince

Enjoy!
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Harry loved the thrill of a chase, but this one was actually rather insulting. All of the guards were on his tail, yet none of them looked as if they had ever really seen a threat to the castle, as they were huffing from overexertion. Harry could feel a small frown lay claim to his lips. Oh! And it was really kind of Lucius to go ahead and order his capture! He was just thrilled with the king right about now.

Harry dodged through the noisy, bustling crowds of the market. Shrieks tailed him, so a quiet escape wasn’t really an option, as the guards had mapped out where exactly Harry was going from the commotion that the knight had left in his wake. He wasn’t exactly sure why they thought they could catch him, they were far from close.

They should have been able to capture him rather quickly; they did know the market better than he did… yup, there was the wall… there were the labored footsteps of the guards… Harry looked up… and there was the wooden beams running above the market if they were ever needed to throw up mats of straw for shelter.

As he had said, the guards probably knew the market better then he did, that would explain the reason why they were still chasing him when there was a set of stairs leading to the battlements not ten feet from where he had first entered the market. If they were smart they would have realized that his goal was to initially get the top of the battlements. But they really, really weren't all that bright.

Harry grabbed one of the ropes tethered to the wall and pulled himself atop one of those beams. Ah shit… now that was something he hadn’t counted on. Lucius actually had archers stationed up here. Merlin, talk about overkill?

Harry heard clattering, and there were the guards. Normally he could fought them off, but his twin blades were in their scabbards on his horse. All he had on him was the dagger in his boot and he really didn’t want to use it. He was, after all, in an allied kingdom. Not that any of them actually knew that he was an ally.

Harry took one glance at the crystal- clean moat water below him, and one glance behind him at the guards that were closing in; before deciding on the best course of action.

A flash of white; however, jerked his eyes back to behind the guards; to the Prince that was now reaching the top of the stairs. He raised his foot to rest on the raised edge of the battlements and Harry watched the scowl slid across the Prince’s face when he caught sight of Harry. Then the raven- haired knight smirked and jumped, but not before glimpsing the alarmed look that had morphed on the Prince’s face.
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Harry barely made a small splash in the surface of the crystal clear water when he pulled out of his dive, his lithe body arcing back toward the surface. The water was at a comfortable temperature, if not a little cool, and the shadows cast from the castle and surrounding forest hide his progress as he glided his way through the water

There had to be an opening, somewhere where a small creek or drainage tunnel could enter or drain. Or at least he assumed there was, judging from the small current running along the bottom of the moat. The lowest windows on the castle were even higher than the twenty feet to the top of the moat, so that left out getting back into the castle and figuring another way out. The moat walls themselves were slippery and rose almost vertically with no foliage to grip in hopes of climbing up.

The raven- haired teen swam for nearly twenty minutes, surfacing very little, before he felt an indecision in the current. Harry rose with a gasp, quickly taking in a lungful of light air. Above him he heard laughter, twin- like laughter. Harry looked up and grinned.

"Sirius owes us five galleons a piece, Harry!"

Harry let loose a bark of laughter, "Let me up."

A rope was thrown over the edge of the ravine wall, Harry caught it and nodded up to Fred. Fred turned, shouted something and a moment later Harry surged up out of the water to the edge of the moat. The raven- haired Gryffindor took Fred's outstretched hand and was tugged over- eagerly onto firm ground. Harry let Fred's enthusiasm throw him to the ground, groaning in relief when he let his muscles rest.

Harry lay sprawled out on the ground when George rode up on his fire- orange bay mare, looking down on his Prince, chuckling. Harry folded his arms behind his head before inquiring on the twins' earlier comment.

"So what did Sirius bet on now?"

"That no one would know you were even in the castle 'til the sun set tonight. And Fred and I knew that you couldn't go a night without exposing yourself." Harry grinned and shrugged when Fred walked up to him and offered his hand again.

"You would think that Sirius would have learned by now. Never bet against the twins." Harry mumbled as he was pulled to his feet.

"Did you bring Cohan?" Harry asked the twins as he turned to study the two fire- bay mares that stood patiently by the twins. The mares were exactly like the Weasley twins and were even twins themselves; born from the same mother.

"The Bishop is wandering around here somewhere." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Why do you call him that?" George threw an arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Because you're our Prince and since you won't let us worship the ground you walk on, we'll just bow down to that damned black beast of yours."

Harry shook his head, wondering just how these two were his best scouts, ones he trusted above all. Harry whistled sharply and loudly, waiting. A shrill whinny answered his call and Harry could see Cohan gallop toward him, black saddle and scabbards gleaming in the mid- morning sun.

The black stallion docily slowed to a halt in front of Harry before dropping his head to nuzzle to grain from Harry's offered palm. Harry brushed the excess grain from his fingers and walked toward his saddle bags secured behind the saddle. He pulled out dry black leather under armor and a dry cloak. Quickly, he stripped off his wet clothing and was pulling on the last of his dry clothing when he felt eyes soak into his skin. Silver eyes.
Harry looked up to see those silver eyes narrowed down at him from the battlements. Harry smiled and clasped the black cloak over his shoulders. there was a gold rearing lion embroidered on the right breast, standing as the symbol of the Rogue Knights of Gryffindor.

The raven- haired teen turned and mounted. Harry met the silver eyes and smirked, sending a lazy, mocking salute to the glowering Prince. Purposely not looking back, Harry spun Cohan and galloped away with Fred trailing behind him and George scouting the woods ahead.
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