The Phoenix and The Dragon

A/N I also do not own the names Panatlaimon or Kirjave, for them you have to go to Mr. Philip Pullman! On with the show!

The effect of the soaring trees surrounding their clearing was a darkness that the dying sun couldn’t penetrate but for a few thin violet and crimson rays.

“Where are we?”

“The outside of Parkinson’s.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“I would have said haunting, but then again I know the occupants better. It is rather stunning in the daylight however.” As if to drive the point home Malfoy lit his wand with a quick ‘Lumos’ and gestured around the clearing.

“Yeah. Well, it’s now or never. Lead the way.” Draco looked at the sky and appeared to get his bearings before cutting across the clearing and exiting on the far side from where they appeared. Harry followed and soon they were deep in the ever darkening forest. He was beginning to doubt Draco and was about to tell him so when the tree line materialized in front of them and nothing but a clear field lay before them.

“That’s the estate. Now we need to find the arch Dobby made me.” Harry nodded. He could see the silhouette of a large house in the distance to the west, blocking the lowered sun.

“What does it look like?”

“It’s an arch made from the two lowest branches of two yew trees. It should be to the left not far from the forest. Don’t go any more forward because the wards begin and I don’t want to have to leave you here.”

“That makes two of us.” They walked a bit in silence but it made Harry uncomfortable. “So how did you get Dobby to make this for you?”

“Pansy had been my best friend, we grew up together. Anyway when my parents would have company, you know the kind, I would always get frightened and I would ask Dobby to take me to Pansy’s. Well, eventually I was old enough to cross the forest myself so he made me a hole.”

“Wait, cross the forest? Malfoy Manor is on the other side of this forest?”

“Yeah, we’re in Wiltshire. Did I not mention that?”

“No, you didn’t mention it!”

“Shh! You want us to get caught? Huh?”

“No, but you could have said something.” They were whispering furiously, not even walking anymore but facing each other angrily.

“Why does it matter?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he could hear the sarcasm that was so present in their school arguments creeping back into his voice, “ your house is empty and would be an ideal place for the death eaters to have their own little headquarters! Because they all want me dead!”

“Oh shut it Potter, if anyone were in my house I could feel it.”

“I can’t believe you di- what?”

“What?”

“You would feel it?”

“Yeah, when father went to Azkaban, I was keyed into the wards.”

“Oh, makes sense.”

“That and when my father is broken out of Azkaban, if he’s not already, I’ll still be able to feel them because he won’t be released. And according to wizarding law a fugitive cannot be the master of a house, or manor in our case. Therefore he can no longer feel the wards.”

“You think your father is out?”

“I try not to think about it.” The light from his slender hawthorn wand made the shadows play on his face eerily, making him look to Harry older some how, like he’d seen too much. Harry imagined his own face would appear similar. He nodded, wondering absently if Draco would fight his own father in the final battle. Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. The blond obviously still cared for his father and Harry remembered the reverence in Draco’s voice whenever he had talked about his father in the past. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to see his new companion make that choice although he didn’t see a way around it.

When Draco turned around the conversation was over and the two plodded on for another ten of fifteen minutes in silence as the light faded. Harry was lost in his own thoughts when Draco stopped beside him and bated his arm.

“Over there.” He was pointing the tip of his wand a few feet ahead and about ten feet to Harry’s left. There were two yew trees bent awkwardly towards each other, the lowest branches interwoven creating a low, narrow gap.

“That’s it?”

“Yes, I’m positive.” Draco led the way over to the two bent trees and gestured to the ground. “You have to stay low and try not to push the trees because they are holding the hole in the wards open. If they break then the wards will close on us.”

“Got it.” Harry crouched down and army crawled beneath the branches followed closely by Draco.

“Now all we have to worry about is getting to the house unseen. Time to put on the cloak.” Harry unfolded his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself. Then he opened his arms.

“You coming?” He snickered as Draco warily approached.

“Don’t laugh Potter, this is strange enough without you giggling.” Harry tried valiantly but when Draco turned around to back into Harry’s arms, so he could see his way, Harry snorted and Draco stepped away glaring. “Potter!”

“Oh come on Malfoy. You can do it, I won’t bite. But Hurry up.” Draco stepped closer and when they were chest to chest he turned around. This time Harry moved forward and wrapped his arms around Draco to drape the cloak in front of them and with a swipe of his hand the hood fell before their eyes.

Draco led the way down a grassy hill and across vast expenses of well cut lawns broken up by lavish and exotic looking gardens and the occasional gazebo or trellis. The shadows hung to the gardens like billowing black silk beneath clear water, diaphanous and yet opaque. They were like complete darkness that Harry had never known in the suburbs of London, the kind that was tangible and would slip into your nose or mouth and across your eyes if you weren’t careful. When the Parkinson Manor came into view Harry realized why Malfoy would use words like ‘manor’ or estate’ and not ‘house’ or ‘yard.’ It was because her home seemed like an extension of a place like Hogwarts.

The walls were made of a thick, dark stone cut into 3’ by1’ blocks, but not cut so much as broken off. The vaulted windows were arched and made of the thick sort of glass you saw in old cathedrals, the kind that if you looked long enough you would be able to see it gliding down, still fluid.

Pansy’s window was almost at ground level, it was a shallow arch that was maybe five feet across at the base and three feet high. It was divided by a thick metal bar. Draco pointed at the small latch in the middle of the bar.

“She used to leave the window open for me.”

“Is it open?”

“Can you tell?”

“No.”

“Then how do you expect me to? We have to get closer.”

They knelt down, careful to stay covered by the cloak and Harry, guilty, realized how close Draco’s body was to his own. They were in an upright position but in order to stay covered Harry had to spoon against Draco’s small form as his grey eyes scanned the interior of Pansy’s room and checked the window. He was almost envious of the friendship they had, he had never had a childhood friend to run to when he had been scared and he felt that everyone deserved one.

“It’s clear and the window is open, Thank Merlin. I’ll go first then you toss in the cloak and slide in after me.”

“Okay.” Draco simply pushed on the right pane of thick glass and it swung inward. Then he crawled out from beneath the cloak and slid in, feet first. Harry looked inside and tossed the cloak down to his companion. He tried to mimic Draco’s graceful action but his feet landed awkwardly on something not entirely stable.

“To the right more.” Harry obeyed Draco’s quiet command and swung his feet right. He felt open air. He slid the rest of the way in. Draco was smirking.

“What?”

“Your fly’s open.” Blushing Harry looked down and furiously zipped himself. He imagined Draco had got quite a show as he had shimmied in but there was nothing he could do about it now.

He saw that the thing he had almost landed on was the top of an enormous wrought iron cage that housed two curled up little animals Harry guessed to be ferrets. One white and one russet colored. He gestured toward the cage with his thumb.

“Pantalaimon and Kirjava.” Apparently they had names.

“She has ferrets? I’m surprised they’re not named Draco and Pansy. Eh, ferret?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Yes, it is.” Draco narrowed his eyes but he was smiling.

“Yeah, it is.”

While Draco looked for places to hide themselves Harry took stock of the room. It was lit by the soft glow of several candles and naphtha torches on the walls. The ground was covered with thick chocolate brown carpet and there was an enormous, L-shaped, walnut desk in the corner opposite but parallel the large cage. It had a comfy looking wing-back chair in front of it and beside it on the next wall was an ivory chaise lounge to match the color of the chair, both made with walnut as well. The bed was low to the ground and on the opposite wall of the cage and came out into what would be the center of the room if it were a smaller room. It looked to be made of the same heavy walnut as the rest of the furniture and had black sheets and pillow cases with a large ivory comforter that looked like corduroy. Beside the bed on the left hand side was a bookcase filled with leather-bound books and brass, silver or gold, glittering trinkets. On the other side was an equally wide and looked to be deep armoire with ornate carving along the top. It had clawed feet and an arch similar to the window they came through and heavy bronze handles.

All in all he had never seen a more magnificent bedroom and if it was anything to go by Draco was used to living in much more luxury then the Dursley’s could afford.

“Wow, this room is so-”

“Subterranean.”

“I was going to say-”

“Opulent?” Draco suggested with a shrug.

“No, stop cutting me off.”

“Sorry, I thought both of those fit. I never could figure why Pan wanted to be near the basement. Something to do with the amount of sunlight those things need.” He jabbed a thumb toward the cage.

“Ah. It’s a nice room, anyway.”

“Yes, it is. Pan always had good taste.” Then they heard it, the sound of a heavy door being opened, Draco pointed to the stairs, that Harry assumed must start with a door at the top, and dove underneath the desk. He followed and Draco threw the cloak over them. He saw her feet first. They were manicured and bare. When she stepped back she appeared to be in front of the cage, probably checking or her sleeping pets but then she retreated and they heard her. Harry never talked to Pansy much but there was a simper in her voice that he thought sounded sad.

“Dr-Draco?” He said nothing. “Have I lost my mind? Dray?” She sighed and Harry realized, probably at the same time as his new friend beside him, that they had left the window open above the cage. “I miss you.” He almost missed it. Then they moved.

“Pansy?” She caught her breath. Of course they had just appeared out of thin air but it was most likely because her best friend was there with their mutually enemy. She rushed forward to hug her lost friend..

“Oh, Dray!” She was quiet but Harry could hear her excitement. She was wearing glasses, which he had never seen at Hogwarts and she was in a short silk nightgown with a matching silk robe that cut of mid-calf. Her hair was black and instead of the straight part he remembered it was parted on the side and the layers curled gently in on each other at the tips. When she wasn’t scowling Harry could barely recognize the girl he had once called pug-faced with Hermione. Then she rounded on him.

“And you!” He thought she was going to attack him but instead he was grabbed in a fierce hug. “Thank you for saving him.”

“I-I”

“I’m not quite safe yet Pan. We need your help.” She slowly untangled herself from Harry.

“Oh?”

“The thing is in order for Potter get rid of You-Know-Who, he’s got to find some things.” She tilted her head and examined both of them.

“And you need my help to get to them?” She quirked an eyebrow and Harry half expected her to re-open the window and kick them out but instead she smiled after a beat. “I’ll do anything.”