One's True Nature

One’s True Nature


Chapter 7

Harry kept his senses open. He had luckily found a cave about half a mile back from where they were thanks to his map. He could tell that Draco was weak and as he held the man up, he heightened everything, he knew they were in trouble. He was sweating hard and his breathing was erratic.

"This way." Harry said sharply and Draco moaned as he tried to keep up with Harry's pace despite his injuries.

Harry had finally managed to make it to the cave. Draco's body leaned heavily against his shoulders. He had seen eight, maybe nine wizards in the group. There was however, no sign of Draco's son. He didn't think they would see the boy, but the fact that the boy was bait for Harry didn't make the man feel like this was a normal kidnapping. Harry hadn't seen what struck Malfoy, but from the man's soft groans and inability to carry his own weight suggested he was hurt badly. Harry ignited his wand as the went deeper into the cave, he couldn't help but see the deep grooves of worry on Draco's face as the light from his wand showed them clear as day.

"Here." Harry stated softly and eased Draco down to sit him up against the wall. Harry stepped back in shock as he saw at long trail of blood from Draco's robes seemed to have marked a bloody path to where he now half leaned, half lay. His wand hand seemed to work on it's own as he cleaned up the blood and tried to look over the lump that was Draco's body losing color as he stood there.

"They'll kill him now." Draco's voice was an admission of defeat. "They saw me, Potter. They saw me. I didn't..." His own frustration and fear, or perhaps his injuries kept him from speaking anymore. Harry sat beside him and began to take off the man's dark gray cloak. Draco groaned like a giant as Harry revealed the source of the blood.

"Draco.." It was the first time since they had been on this journey known each other that Harry had used his first name. He had shouted it when he saw Draco was about to be struck, but that didn't count. "I won't let anything happen to him." He looked at Draco's torn shoulder and cursed to himself. He could see the tissue was clearly cut all the way to the bone and he was in awe of how Draco had managed on with a wound that awful. He winced to himself as Draco moved causing the wound to open and close like a mouth spilling fresh blood. He didn't have anyway to treat the man lacking familiarity with strong medical magic.

He decided and he knew as he did so that Draco wouldn't object to his friends' their help now. He called his friend's Hermione and Ron. There was no way just to do this themselves anymore. Harry, great as he might be, needed Ron to keep track of the group of wizards and he needed Hermione's medical knowledge. He touched his pendant on his chest and spoke softly.

"RON!" Hermione yelled in surprise. Ron who'd been reading to Rose about her family history didn't jump up immediately, but got up quickly enough not to have his wife bark at him in anger at his lack of alertness to her cries.

"What is it?" Ron came into the study where Hermione had been looking for some lost works and magic. She was disheveled and tired looking, covered in papers. Her finger pointed to a clear crystal globe that was glowing red.

"He needs us now Ron, something must have happened." Ron's eyes didn't move from the globe right away. Harry had invented it with the help of George Weasley. It was supposed to be used to help those in need get help. He only tested it once however. He never was sure that a Portkey could be ignited this way, but he trusted his brother and Harry.

Hermione fire called Mrs. Weasley and had her take Rose and the rest of the family to the Burrow. She didn't like being unable to explain things, but Ron never explained properly what the mission Harry was on was about.

Harry sat against the cave wall and used his magic to hold Draco together until help arrived. He knew it might be awhile. He saw Draco shiver in shock. His skin was now a light shade of blue. His breath came in short jerks. Harry put his cloak over him and pulled him to his body so Draco could exchange body heat with him. He almost jerked at how ice cold Draco felt.

"Draco.." This time Harry realized what he had done and stopped to admire the name he had just spoken. "Draco, you need to stay awake now...listen tell me about something..." Harry sounded as if he were speaking to a child. They were older now, but the way they interacted was as children almost.

"About what?" Draco groaned, forcing his eyes open.

"I don't know." Harry said honestly. Then a thought stuck him nearly dumb...he couldn't believe he had not asked this in the week they'd been on this journey together. "Tell me about your son." Harry stroked Draco's hair without realizing it and listened.

Draco didn't talk right away, but he sighed and tried to move closer to the warmth he was feeling. He spoke softly and his breathing relaxed as did his body.

"He's nothing like me." Draco said and odd smile moved across his face. "He's a Gryffindor you know?" Harry's eye's widened. "He's his own man, self assured, sometimes arrogant, but good hearted. I feel so unskilled to be his father." Draco felt a lump in his throat. "I love him though." Tears of agony worked their way from his eyes. "Maybe this is my fate because I am a coward." Draco was breathing hard now. Harry had to try and calm him down. "Pot-Potter, you have to save him, even if I die p-please." Harry could understand the feelings of fear for his son's safety. Why hadn't Albus or James told him Draco's son had become a Gryffindor?

"Draco, calm down, you're very inju..." Harry heard a crack of Apparation. Hermione and Ron were moving into the cave where they were laying together, sort of. Harry blushed slightly and laughed at Ron's expression.

"Harry!" Shouted Hermione.

"Ron," Harry snapped over her shout. "There are eight or nine death eaters moving southeast of this place. I need you to track them for me and tell me if they have a boy with them." No further discussion was made between the two. Ron was gone with a crack.

"Harry, you need to help me a little here." Hermione was already running her wand along the blonde man's body. Harry did as instructed and laid Draco flat on the floor of the cave. The man had passed out once Harry had stopped using his magic to hold his wounds closed.

"What in Merlin's name was he doing?" Hermione said in surprise as she removed his top with great care.

"Being a father." Harry said simply. He remembered the pure fury that had exploded from Malfoy's wand when he killed Goyle, and for a moment, he was glad that he had never faced that Draco before. The death he couldn't blame the man at all. He looked at the rise and fall of Draco's chest. Noting the scar where he'd cut him with Snape's spell. A guilt seemed to tug at him for a moment.

Hermione worked almost silently. Her wand movements were precise and seemed to force color into the body below her. Harry had judged this man so harshly in their time together. He felt more guilt over that fact because he had seen the true Malfoy in the tower. He was just as scared now as he was then. The difference now was his son was in danger.

"Gr-Granger?" Draco said softly.

"Yes?" She spoke quietly.

"Will I be able to continue?" She heard the panic in his voice.

"I used my strongest knowledge, though I would suggest waiting until morning at least before going any further."

"Gran-Hermione...I...thank you." Draco's hand found hers without realizing it did so.

"Sure..." It was all she could say shock clearly overwhelmed her.

Harry understood in that moment what Sirius had meant. 'Harry, the world isn't separated into good people and Death Eaters.' He was smiled sadly. He'd come to know Draco more in that moment than in 27 years.

Ron returned with a loud crack and everyone jumped in surprise. Ron looked around as suspicious, finding nothing, he spoke. "Less than a day's travel for sure. They aren't moving fast at all. There were no indications of a boy with them." Ron hesitated a moment. "Pansy Parkinson is with them." Draco let out a whimper that caused Hermione to jump in surprise.

"Hermione," said Harry. "You return home ok? I need Ron with me for now." They didn't question Harry on this and it was a good thing because Harry wasn't in a mind of explaining everything. He knew from the whimper that Draco had just given that they needed to make a move quickly before something did happen to Scorpious.

"Ron, are you sure Pansy is with them?" Draco asked softly, trying to sit up. Ron knelt down beside Malfoy, his expression deep and warm. Harry was very confused by this.

"You shouldn't move just now mate, yes, I am sure it was her." Ron's voice was calm and collected. "Listen, I am sorry about the interrogation at the auror office." Ron swallowed.

"Ron, you needn't apologize, you're human, I understand that." Draco said softly with a wince of pain. "Now isn't the time for apologies, if Pansy is with them, then this just became a hundred times more dangerous.

"Why?" Harry inquired, freed from the shock of the casual conversation between his best friend and his best friend's biggest enemy.

"Because she would only be here if Blaise Zabini were here." Draco said, the contempt in his voice dripping on every word. "He's the most gifted duelist I have ever seen, he also can charm people better than anyone I ever knew. If he's here, it's likely that he would have taken my son under any pretext." Draco sneered. "He'd do it just to get at me." His words were cold but inside he wanted to cry. He wanted to scream out, he knew that his son was safe for now, Blaise would only hurt him when Draco could watch. He shivered a bit.

"Draco, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Harry." Ron said now standing up from the man's side and escorting Harry outside of the cave.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked before Ron could speak anything.

"What?" Ron said in confusion.

"That, with Malfoy." Harry said, curiosity in his eyes as he searched Ron's.

"Harry, there's a lot you wouldn't understand." Ron breathed out. "Draco and I aren't really great friends, but he has been helping Hermione with her work at the ministry for the last few years. It was only natural that it changed both of our perspectives on each other." Ron sighed. "That, and the fact that he's not really the same obnoxious git we knew in school." Then he breathed out again. "Perhaps that isn't the only thing that changed it for me though."
Harry raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"About eight years ago, Hermione was trying to propose some kind of wizarding legislation and Draco had agreed to help, I don't know all the details of how she contacted him, but anyway, he was working with her late one night with some language piece she didn't get, I was staying out of the way." Ron crossed his arms as if discomforted by the memory. "I still hated him."

Harry smiled softly.

"So anyway, Neville came by late because he needed to pick some rare herbs that Hermione had helped him grow for his classes. When he came into the kitchen where all three of us were working, Draco almost got sick, he went all pale and was really upset. He got up and didn't say a word and left."

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Ron looked across the table at his wife. She shook her head in equaled confusion.

"What do ya think made him act like that?" Ron asked aloud, finally getting the words out.

"Me." Neville said softly. "You really might of warned him that I was coming." Neville's voice was pained as if he was guilty of something. Ron and Hermione both looked at him with surprise.

"Why?" Hermione asked finally.

"When we were at school, remember how I told you about the torture that the Carrows did to me?" Neville asked making sure they understood by their nods and continued. "He was the one who administered it." And he held up his hand to silence them from any outbursts. "He didn't want to do it, in fact, most of the time he was crying like a baby." The Carrows seemed to really enjoy that it upset him to do it, because it was almost a nightly routine for two weeks." Neville smiled the weirdest smile Ron ever remembered. "I don't know, I couldn't look him in the face after awhile, it was worse than the pain he was causing."

Neville sat down at the table. Ron and Hermione were both speechless, Hermione's eyes full of tears. "At one point he tried to take my beating for me, he kept apologizing, I wanted to cry for him, it was really bad."

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"So you can imagine I had a hard time hating someone like that, it sort of broke the ice I guess." Ron spoke to Harry, who now had a deep distant look in his eyes.

"I should have helped him." Harry said softly. "He endured all that, I should have given him a chance, I should have-" And Harry stopped speaking to himself aloud when Ron touched his shoulder.

"You can't save everyone mate, sometimes, they have to save themselves." Ron's eyes made Harry lower his in agreement. "Anyway Harry, I wanted to tell you, we have to hurry, you have enemies in the ministry that will move once they realize I am gone.”

"I know." Harry's words were angry and bitter. "Listen, I need to be alone."

Ron didn't bother to argue, he knew Harry well enough to know that when the man asked for his space, that was what he wanted. He turned and walked back into the cave. He looked at Draco, who was still awake, deep silver eyes looking at the ceiling of the cave, Ron didn't say anything, he made a fire and then he sat against the wall where Draco lay.

"Where's Potter?" Draco asked his voice cracked.

"He needed some space, he'll be alright." Ron said like an official statement.

"Ron, can I ask you something?" Draco's face was still focused on the ceiling, he glowed in the light of the fire.

"Sure."

"Why is he helping me?"

"I don't know."

"He always saves me, I don't get it."

"I don't either truthfully."

"You want to hear something funny?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Alright then."

"I used to imagine when things went so bad and I thought I was gonna die, he would save me."

Ron stared at the man beside him, his eyes still facing up and a glimmer in them, something Hermione had explained to him once. He scratched his head in thought and then his features turned calm and warm. Hermione had been right about Draco.

"How long have you been in love with him?" Ron asked, his tone showed true curiosity.

Draco was so shocked by the question that he gulped and then winced as his body tensed up and stretched his injuries. He couldn't lie though, maybe it was because he just wanted to tell someone the truth, never mind who it was.

"I don't know," Draco breathed out softly, in a lovesick kind of way. "Since forever."

And somewhere, all alone, Harry was crying.