Whisper

Chapter 8: I Stand Alone-Godsmack



Draco lost count on how many hours they walked through the many corridors. Evans would let them rest for short periods at times, always keeping a look out for Dementors. He wouldn\'t allow Draco and Kid to rest for more then a few minutes before they had to move again.



"Can\'t you do magic," asked Draco, carrying Kid on his back. The child had fallen asleep a while ago and Draco was feeling tired as well. He didn\'t even know what time it was. What sky he could see was covered in grey storm clouds. Occasionally he would see a flash of lighting and heard the crash of thunder.



"You don\'t think I haven\'t tried," said Evans looking around a corner. After deeming it safe he continued to walk on. "I tried every wandless spell I know, but none worked. The Library wasn\'t much help either because it holds books on what Harry knows and he doesn\'t know how to defeat this."



"Have you tried hiding in a happy memory?"



Evans suddenly stopped, making Draco run into him. Draco looked at the teenager and saw he sad expression on Evans\' face.



"Harry hid them to protect him from the Dementors."



"Where did he hide them?"



"I don\'t know."



They continued to walk for a couple more hours before Evans found a room to stay in. it was an empty class room. He pushed the desks against the door to keep the Dementors out in case the Dark Creatures came near.



"Go to sleep," he ordered Draco. "I\'ll keep watch."



"But what about you? Aren\'t you going to sleep?"



Evans chuckled and shook his head. "I haven\'t really slept in over a year. I have to watch out for the Dementors."



"You\'re being a hero again, Potter!"



"I told you, I\'m not Harry! I\'m James Evans."



"Well, you act so much like him it\'s hard to tell the difference. Both trying to be the hero. Well, stop being a hero for once. I\'m here now so let me help!"



Evans shook his head and looked away. Grumbling under his breathe Draco set Kid on the floor and arranged him comfortably.



"Can\'t we go to the dormitories," asked Draco.



"Passwords change every time we try to enter. Ravenclaws easiest maybe. All you have to do is answer riddles, but the others are codewords and that\'s hardest. I\'ve tried every password I could think up and they didn\'t open." They sat in silence for several minutes before Evans looked at Draco, his eyes oddly soft. "Get some rest. I will tell you if you talk in your sleep."



Draco felt his face heat up. "I don\'t talk in my sleep!" he said before he realized Evans was joking.



Evans threw his head back and laughed loudly. At first Draco stared in surprise at the teenager before smiling and laughing along. Both were laughing for several minutes before they heard a third younger voice giggling along with them. Both turned to find Kid with a wide smile on his face while lying on the floor, one hand pressed to his mouth to stifle the sound, his overly large clothes bunched around him. When Kid saw Draco and Evans look at him he hid his face behind his hands, but still looked at them through spread fingers. Draco and Evans laughed.



Sighing Evans leaned against the wall and rested an arm on a propped knees. "Damn. I haven\'t laughed like that since Hogwarts."



Smiling Draco crossed his arms and gave a mocking glare at Evans. "Guess I\'m good for something," he said.



"Malfoy, you were good at a lot of things," said Evans. "And a good laugh was just one of them."



Draco\'s eyes sparkled slightly as he looked at Evans. "And how would you know what I was good at," asked Draco. "Were you watching me?"



Evans face turned red and he looked away. "Don\'t be ridiculous. Why would I?" Both fell silent for a moment before Evans spoke again. "Get some sleep. Don\'t know when we\'ll need to move again."



Draco, sensing and end to the conversation, took off his robe, laid on the cold floor and drew the robe over his shoulders. Kid moved under the robe and curled up next to Draco, adding his body heat. Surprisingly Draco was immensely tired. Closing his eyes he willed his mind blank and slowed his breathing. Before he fell completely asleep he felt another robe drape over him, covering him and Kid from the chill air.



He laughed as he ran around the garden, the enchanted butterflies flying around him. The five year old smiled at his mother who had charmed the butterflies into existence to entertain her son. He beautiful sun gold hair that he loved to ran his chubby hands through was held in an intricate bun at the top of her head.



"Mummy," he said and ran to her. Narcissa swept her son into her arms and hugged him.



"My dragon," she said hugging him close.



"Mummy, why am I not allowed off the grounds," he asked looking at his mother.



"Because it\'s not safe, sweaty," said Narcissa.



"Because of Muggles?"



"No, Draco. There are worse things out there."



"Like what, Mummy?"



"Nightmares."



Suddenly Narcissa disappeared and the garden died as the sky dimmed. He heard thunder in the distance as he looked around for his mother.



"Mummy? Mummy, where are you?"



"You\'re a Malfoy, Draco. He turned around to find Lucius standing behind him. "Malfoy\'s depend on no one."



He was a teenager now and glaring at his father. "Stay out of my life, Father," he yelled. "I don\'t want to be a Death Eater!"



Lucius slapped him across the cheek. "You will become a Death Eater and will obey the Dark Lord or you and everyone you love will die!"



"Draco!"



He turned around to find his mother standing behind him.



"Mother!" he yelled and ran to her. But before he reached her a knife was thrown and hit Narcissa in the chest. She fell to the floor.



"MOTHER!"



"Mother," called Draco shooting awake. Looking around he found himself in the empty classroom he had fallen asleep. Kid was still curled next to him. and Evans was against the door, keeping the barricade tight against the door.



"What happened," asked Draco.



"The Dementors were outside," he said. "Something attracted them."



"I was dreaming. About my mother."



Evans looked at Draco before turned back to the door. "Yeah, that would attract them."



"Turned into a nightmare."



"That tends to happen."



"How long was I asleep?"



"Several hours. I usually wait for Kid to sleep himself out before moving again."



"Well, get some sleep yourself. I\'ll take over."



"Malfoy, I\'m fine. I can go without sleep for a few days…."



"And it looks to me you went a few says too long. Damn it, Evans, you\'re not the only one here anymore to take care of kid. I\'m here to help Potter, and if that means helping you as well, then I will."



Evans sighed. Draco could tell he was deciding on whether or not to let Draco watch over them. Draco could see the tiredness in his eyes and almost wished he could will the teenager to sleep.



"All right," said Evans. "I\'ll go to sleep, but you will wake me up in two hours."



"Like I can tell time here," said Draco. Evans glared at Draco who smirked. "But I\'ll try." \'Yeah, right. This guy needs his sleep. And his damn hero complex.\'



Nodding Evans laid his head against the wall. Draco took the second robe off kid and draped it over Evans. The teenager had already fallen asleep.



"Knew he needed sleep," said Draco and sat down to keep watch. Draco didn\'t know what time it was in the Hogwarts-mind, not being able to cast a Tempus spell and having left his watch over his bureau at home. He settled for letting Evans and Kid sleep for as long as they needed. Kid was still curled up on his lap and hardly shifted the whole time. He would mumble a little but other then that he didn\'t say a word.



Mid-morning was coming in before Draco realized he wasn\'t hungry or thirsty at all. He did read somewhere that the participants of the spell hadn\'t thought about nourishment through the entire experience and only slept when the patient did. Draco never really paid much attention to the experiences inside the soul, just the details over the spell itself. Now he wished he had paid more attention.



Kid groaned and shifted in his arms. One vibrant green eye opened before the other and looked at Draco. Toward the wall across from him Evans started waking up as well. He looked around first, as if assuring himself that he was in the same room he fell asleep in, and then looked at Draco.



"How long…."



"Several hours," said Draco with a smirk. If Draco had read his internal clock correctly through, Evans and Kid had been asleep for half the day.



Evans eyes narrowed as he glared at Draco. "How could you let me sleep that long?!" he said.



"Because you needed it," said Draco. "You can walk around carrying Kid all around the place, but even the protected needs rest. This isn\'t Hogwarts anymore, no matter how much it looks like it. Dumbledore around anymore to save Harry\'s arse whenever he gets in trouble."



"I told you to wake me in two hours!"



"Your own fault for letting your guard down." Evans began to stammer an excuse but Draco just smirked. "Come on, admit it, Evans. You trust me. It\'s fine if you don\'t admit it, but I know you do."



"I don\'t trust you!"



"Sure you don\'t." Draco set Kid on the floor and the boy resumed his usual position, except he looked right at Draco. "Kid trusts me."



"Kid\'s a child! He\'ll trust anybody!" Evan took a deep breathe, trying to reign in his anger. Draco smirked. Potter had am anger problem as well. They\'re more alike then they wanted to admit. "Besides, why should I trust you? You don\'t know anything about us? So why should we trust you?"



"Who else have you got?" asked Draco while moving the desks away from he door. When he looked back at Evans\' angry face, he sighed. "Look, Evans, I know Potter didn\'t like me at school, and I didn\'t particularly like him at the time either, but trust, like respect, goes both ways. I trust you to take care of me and Kid, but you don\'t trust me in taking care of you. How is that fair? You needed sleep and I let you have it. I even prevented the Dementors from coming in once."



"The Dementors came?! Why didn\'t you tell me?!"



"You were sleeping like a proverbial log. How was I supposed to wake you? You went without sleep for so long you broke down before your arse hit the floor. Face it. You need me."



"I don\'t need you."



Draco smirked. "All right. Fine I\'ll leave you and let Potter waste away into an empty husk." With theatrical shrug he turned to walk out the door, but a tight grip on his robes stopped him. Looking down he saw Kid gripping tight to the edge of his robes, looking up at Draco with a frightened expression. He didn\'t want Draco to leave. Draco\'s face softened as he picked up the boy.



"You may not want me here, but Kid does, and so does Harry. Now I promised a girl out there that I\'d get her father back. Now how about a little bit of cooperation? Technically she\'s your daughter too."



Evans’ eyes flashed in anger but he nodded and headed toward the door. Draco only had enough time to switch Kid from his arms to his back before Evans’ opened the door and they ran out.



They had been walking for a while in silence when a sudden cold feeling overtook them. All three looked behind them. They could see the shadow of a Dementor from around a corner.



“Run,” yelled Evans, and Draco did. He switched Kid from his back to his arms to make him easier to carry.



Evans tugged Draco’s arm and lead him to a closed door. As they neared it Kid started whimpering, shaking his head and tugged on Evans’ cloak.



“Sorry, Kid,” said Evans, “but we have no choice.” And he threw open the door. As the doors closed Draco was overwhelmed by an image.



(He was cleaning dished at the sink, standing on a stool to reach the counter. His black hair reached almost to his shoulders and he glasses were crooked from so many times fixing them. His overly large shirt was rolled up to his elbows and he even had to use safety pins to keep them in place. His pants were rolled up as well and his felt had several few notches in it just to keep the pants from slipping down his hips. The rest of the family was watching a comedy program on the television.



A glass that he was cleaning broke and slit his thumb down its pad. It was a cheap glass that his uncle often buys and could easily break. He gasped when the glass slit his thumb and took it out of the soapy water before it stung.



His uncle heard the breaking of the glass and his yelp. His uncle’s round face was purple in anger as he rounded on his nephew.



“Stupid, insolent boy,” yelled his uncle. “I give you one simple task and you can’t even do that right!”



“I’m sorry, Uncle Vernon,” he cried. “I’m sorry!”



“You will be when I’m through with you! Come here!” And Vernon grabbed him by his ebony black hair, dragging him to the living room, and the hot poker. Too man times had his uncle used that piece of petal across is bottom, and he was so scared he started screaming, and something inside him snapped.



He didn’t know what happened, but his screams became high pitched whistles. Light bulbs, bowls and vases broke under the intense scream and even the windows began to ripple. All of his relatives had covered their ears.



Vernon, finally having enough of the sound, drew back his fist and punched his nephew across the face. The boy’s broken glasses flew off his face and slid across the floor.



“That’s it,” yelled his uncle. “I’ve had enough of you!” And Vernon grabbed him by the hair again, only this time dragged him to the cupboard under the stairs instead of to the hot poker. His uncle threw him onto the cat and locked the door. )



The vision left Draco as quickly as it came and he stood in what was the Transfiguration class room. Kid was sitting on the floor with his head covered and Evans was slouched against the door, looking exhausted.



“I told you I try to avoid the memories,” said Evans panting heavily.



To Be Continued