The Road Home

Chap. 6 - NOTHIN' AT ALL

'HARRY!'

The first time Draco had been in a forest all by himself he was only six years old. It'd been in a place called Ghost Forest, near Malfoy Manor. His problem wasn't the forest itself but the creatures that inhabited it. Along the years, Draco's grandfather had designed a fortress around Malfoy Manor through enchantments, traps, wild and dangerous animals, cannibals and poisonous plants and magical creatures. According to him, Malfoy Manor would never be unprotected with all of those things to defend it.

He proved himself right. No one that has ever tried to enter Malfoy Manor without a clear invitation had been successful and the poor souls that had done it suffered painful deaths.

For a six-year-old boy, it had been a complete nightmare from the beginning. His father tricked him into a flying lesson and then left Draco there, alone, in the middle of the forest. He would never forget that day. Trying to find his way home, he had been chased by all kinds of weird creatures, especially a very large and hungry wolf.

His mother rescued him at the last minute.

'My poor baby.' She said wrapping her arms around his trembling body. 'LUCIUS! What the hell were you thinking!?'

'He needs to be a man, Narcissa.'

'Listen to me, if you ever do this again you won't wake up to see the next day.'

It was funny how the memory seems to latch on a traumatic situation when all this time it had been resting deep down in his subconscious, waiting for the right moment to wake up. Like the situation he found himself in now.

'Draco!'

Even though he was scared to death, Draco ran in the direction of Harry's voice. In their first year, he had left Harry alone in the forest because he had been too frightened of whatever it was that killed the unicorn. This time he would not make the same mistake.

"Harry? Where are you?" he shouted through the darkness. "Answer me! Harry!"

'Draco, help me!'

He heard the voice again and ran towards it. He stopped at a clearing in the woods to catch his breath. "Fuck! Where are you, Harry!"

He felt a light touch on his shoulder and quickly turned around to see whom it was.

"I'm here."

Harry Potter was right in front of him, wearing the same concerned look as Draco.

Not thinking clearly, Draco took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist with all his might. Harry took a while to react to the abnormal demonstration of affection but after a few seconds he held Draco as well.

"What's going on? What happened?" Draco asked without letting go of Harry.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I heard you screaming and..."

"What?" Draco stepped back a little. "I didn't scream, Potter. You were the one screaming like a girl for help!"

"Me? No way! I can take care of myself very well. I've been doing it ever since I was born. Why would I need your help anyway? Especially since what happened this afternoon..." Harry's face hardened.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that... I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Is that all you can say? You tried to kill me!"

"No, I didn't! It was an accident, all right? I threw a dancing charm against you. If I really had tried to kill you, do you think I would still be at school by now? Dumbledore would have had me expelled. But he inspected my wand and saw that the werewolf did not come out of it."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know. Nobody knows yet."

They heard a howl coming from somewhere deep in the forest. All of Draco's five senses suddenly became very alert. "Why are you here, Potter?" he asked suspecting something was terribly wrong.

"Well, I... Hey, it's none of your goddamn business!"

"Did someone ask you to come here tonight?"

"How do you know?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Fuck!"

"What? Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"God, Potter! You are so dense!" Harry looked truly offended. "Don't you get it? It's a trap. Someone sent me a note asking me to be here tonight. I reckon the same happened to you."

"Fuck!" said Harry finally understanding the danger of the situation.

"Yeah. I have to agree with that."

"So, the cry for help..." Harry's mind started to work furiously.

"It must have been an Illusion charm. And we probably fell right in the middle of the web, like two goddamn stupid flies!"

"Who sent you the note?"

"My father. What about you?"

"Someone that is really important to me."

Draco felt a pang of jealous crossing his heart. He was about to say something when he saw three creatures moving through the shadows behind Harry. As the creatures started to come closer, the moonlight descended upon their faces and a screech got stuck in Draco's throat. "Potter?" he muttered.

"What? Are you ok? You look terribly pale all of a sudden."

"RUN!"

Draco grabbed Harry's arm and pushed him into the opposite direction of the creatures. But three more were waiting for them already at the other side of the clearing. They stopped, thinking of what to do next.

"I got my wand." Harry said, one hand tightening on Draco's.

"Good. Dumbledore confiscated mine."

The creatures surrounded them slowly. As they approached, it was possible to see the faces full of scars, the vitreous eyes and the decomposing skins. The heads were caved in like a rotten pumpkin. The teeth were shattered and sticky flecks of tissue were dangling out from behind their skulls. Harry's blood ran cold.

"What are these... these... things?" Harry asked, terrified. "I don't remember reading about them in any of our books!"

"That's because they are not categorized by the Ministry of Magic," Draco informed him.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at the nearest creature.

The spell hit the creature and had no effect whatsoever.

"What should I do now? The spell didn't work."

"That's because they are dead already, Potter. They are zombies. Unless you put a bullet in their heads and kill their brains, you won't stop them."

"What do you know about muggle weapons?" asked Harry surprised.

"A lot more than you think. Just use the spell you cast against me this afternoon!"

Harry raised his wand as the zombies headed for them and shouted the Confusion spell.

"Per contra!"

It worked. At least ten Harries appeared in front of the zombies, making them confused. Draco and Harry took advantage of that to run away. Harry felt his clothes being ripped by branches but he didn't stop. Finally, Hagrid's hut came in their sight and they ran towards it.

When they opened the door, Fang received them with happy barks.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked Harry after taking a deep breath.

Harry sank in the couch. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"I'm ok."

"What the hell just happened?"

"An ambush. I thought that was pretty obvious."

"Not for me. I don't get it, Malfoy. Why is someone trying to kill you? I mean, it doesn't make any sense. You are the perfect figure of a junior Death Eater and..."

"Well, thank you so much Potter! My father will be proud!" said Draco coldly.

"What do you know about zombies?" Harry ignored his comment.

"A little. I'm used to spending a lot of my free time in the library when I'm home. My father has this... private collection of books that he shouldn't have..."

"Dark Magic books, you mean." said Harry.

Draco nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Yes. What can I say? Malfoys are very attached to the Dark Arts. But you already know this, along with everybody else in the magical community. Anyway, one time I found a book written by my grandfather. He was part of an illegal organization that used to do experiments with dark magic... terrible experiments. It was awful... I saw the pictures, I..." Draco started to shudder.

"Hey, it's ok." Harry got up and put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"I'm fine," Draco said, irritated by his weakness. "They used to create monsters using the most advanced Dark Magic that ever existed. Before 1965 this wasn't exactly forbidden, though censured by the wizard community. But my grandfather didn't care about any of those things. He was a Malfoy, you know? I knew him when I was little. He was a very cruel man. Those zombies, Potter, were probably just normal people..."

"Oh, God," Harry muttered. "We need to tell Dumbledore about this."

Draco nodded. His eyes met Harry's and they stood there a long time, looking into each other's eyes. "You *are* hurt!" Draco said suddenly. "Did they get you?"

"No. These are only scratches. There's nothing to worry about."

Draco touched the cut in Harry's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"No, don't worry."

Draco ran his fingers gently through Harry's messy hair and stared at him intensely. "You protected me out there, Potter. Thanks."

"You are welcome," Harry said feeling a little dizzy. "You protected me too. You're a mystery; I can't figure you out, Malfoy. Who are you?"

"Draco Malfoy." Draco's fingers ran down his back.

Harry felt as though he was on fire. "Tell me the truth. What did you do with the real Malfoy?"

Draco giggled and Harry smiled. "Maybe I'm not Malfoy. Maybe I'm just Draco."

Without any more delay, Draco pulled Harry closer and kissed his lips. Harry's mouth instantly opened up to him, allowing Draco's tongue to explore the inner sweetness. Draco felt his body melting every time Harry's tongue met his. The pressure of Harry's body against him was driving him insane. Harry's scent was intoxicating. Draco wanted to devour him.

"You owe me this, Potter," he whispered in Harry's ear. "You owe me this kiss."

"I owe you nothing," Harry teased him.

"Really?" Draco slid down the tip of his tongue against Harry's neck and kissed him again.

Harry felt himself liquefying. He grabbed Draco's hair and deepened the kiss. Draco gave a loud moan. Their bodies were perfectly aligned. Urgently, Draco started to take Harry's shirt off. He needed desperately to feel Harry's soft skin under his. Harry deepened their kiss, caressing Draco's belly softly.

But a knock on the door pulled them apart abruptly. "Now what?" Draco asked furiously.

Flushed from head to toe, he opened the door and saw Erin and Hermione Granger staring at him with a worried look on their faces. Erin noticed his accelerated breath and gave him an understanding and amused look.

"Well and here I was thinking that you and Harry might be in trouble... but you look just fine in my humble opinion." Erin grinned.

"Harry, are you all right?" asked Hermione entering the hut and looking at Harry with a weird expression.

Harry felt suddenly bashful. He wished the floor would open up at his feet, dragging him inside. Hermione wasn't stupid. Sooner or later she would figure out what had been going on between them.

"You have some cuts, Harry. Come here," Erin called him gently.

She took her wand and muttered a spell. His wounds disappeared in an instant.

"Better?" Erin asked.

"Yes, thanks."

"Now, what happened? Miss Granger came to see me in my office just a while ago, telling me about a note you received Harry. Why, in God's name, did you come here alone? Didn't I tell you that it's very dangerous to wander around Hogwart's grounds at night? I thought we had an agreement on this matter. Obviously I was wrong."

"I'm sorry, Professor," said Harry embarrassed.

"And you, Mr. Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

"I'd rather talk to you alone, if you don't mind." Draco looked at Granger.

"All right." She didn't sound pleased with that arrangement. "But at least you can tell me what happened."

"It was a trap. Someone sent me a note pretending to be someone I care about and then lead me into the forest. The same happened to Malfoy," Harry explained.

"Hermione, could you please go back to the school and call the Headmaster?"

Hermione nodded and went away.

"Now, I want to hear the whole truth," Erin said with her arms crossed. "And don't even think about lying to me. Draco, you start."

"I received a note from my father asking me to meet him near Hagrid's hut because he had something important to say."

"And you fell for that?"

Draco shrugged. "It was a perfect copy of my father's handwriting."

"What about you, Harry?"

"It was a note from..." he looked at Draco. "Sirius."

"Sirius? You mean, as in Sirius Black, the fugitive?? The mass murderer? The guy who tried to kill you in the third year? Are you insane??? Coming down here alone..." Draco was livid.

"He is innocent, Malfoy," Harry said. "He is my godfather and he is my friend."

"Or so you say."

"No, Harry is telling you the truth, Draco. Sirius is innocent," Erin said.

"I don't know what to say."

"But I do. Continue your story, please," Erin asked.

They told her about the voices, the Illusion charm and the zombies. Erin looked thoughtful. Zombies, she explained, were officially exterminated in 1994. A very secret task force destroyed all written incantations used to create them. Erin hadn't participated in the task but she knew people who did it. Apparently Voldemort was making them again.

"Basically, you two were stupid enough to fall into a childish trap. Someone was very smart to choose a day that Hagrid isn't here. Not to mention that he knows a lot about you and Harry."

"There was nothing childish about those zombies," Draco replied.

"Indeed, you are right. Who ever did this is very powerful and dangerous. But I doubt it was a student like you said to me this afternoon, Draco. As far as I know, The Dark Forest has a lot of weird creatures, but no zombies. Someone summoned them, just like someone summed the werewolf at the Duelling Club. This kind of magic takes a lot of training and energy to do it. A student couldn't possibly..."

"But besides me and you, Jones, there were only students in that classroom," said Snape suddenly entering the hut, scaring them.

"What are you trying to imply?" asked Erin seriously.

"This kind of magic is your specialty as Dumbledore kindly reminded us today."

"Are you accusing me? Because we all know whose past isn't quite clear around here. And there's this little detail about your dislike for Harry."

Snape advanced in her direction and she stood up to face him, looking straight into his black eyes. "My past is clear enough. Yours, on the other hand, is very vague..."

Draco and Harry jumped in front of Erin to prevent things from getting out of hand.

"Maybe it was a student," Draco said. "I know this because my father told me. Voldemort has been calling his spy at Hogwarts as The Favored."

Erin sighed and so did Snape. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that..." Erin started to mutter but Snape interrupted her.

"Oh yes, you did. But I'm used to it. You have all the right for doubting me, as much as I have to doubt at you."

"I guess that's fair."

"Where have you been every Friday night, Jones?" questioned Snape.

"Not now, Severus. Please."

Snape frowned, his mouth forming a thin line.

Dumbledore entered a few minutes later with Hermione and Ron by his side. Ron looked very apprehensive and also hurt by the fact that Harry hadn't said a word to him about the note.

They talked for hours. Reluctantly, Draco told everything he knew except the fact that he was in love with Harry. Ron looked at him with disbelief and Hermione - who was lead more by her rational side - accepted the idea that Draco was by their side now. After a long conversation in which Draco and Harry agreed to report anything unusual from now on, Dumbledore sent them to their respective Common Rooms.

------------------------

Harry talked to Ron and Hermione for a while and then went looking for Draco despite his friends' misgivings. He still could catch Draco if he ran quickly.

"Why do you need to talk to him, Harry?" said Ron enraged.

"Because I have to. And because he tried to save me."

"It's disgusting," Ron said.

"No, it's actually kind of sweet," said Hermione.

"What?"

"Let's go, Ron," Hermione pushed him away.

Harry hurried down and almost stumbled in the staircase, but didn't stop. Finally, he reached Draco just before he entered the stone wall - the entrance of Slytherin common room.

"Wait up!"

"Potter? What-" Draco looked pleasantly surprised.

"We still need to talk."

"What about?"

"About The Favored or whatever you called him. About that trap that was meant for me and you. And about... us."

"I can't tell you about The Favored 'cause I don't know much about him. But I'm working on it."

"And the trap? I can't believe your father would risk your life..."

"Maybe it wasn't my father. I'll write to him. I guess Dumbledore will do it, too."

"Someone is trying to kill you."

"Yeah. I noticed."

"It's because of me," said Harry guilty.

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter. There are tons of reasons besides you."

"Still... maybe we should be more careful. Maybe... we shouldn't talk to each other."

"I don't see a problem there. You already don't talk to me. I mean, I sent you a letter and you..." Draco stopped, afraid that he would give away too much about his feelings.

"I liked your letter," Harry muttered.

"Did you?" said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief.

"Yes."

Draco pulled him by the hand and they entered into an empty classroom. Carefully, Draco closed the door and turned to face Harry. "That's better," he explained. "We were too out in the open in the corridor... Someone could catch us... What do you want, Potter?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I thought you knew."

"But I don't."

"All I want is..." but before he could finish, Harry grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.

"I can't kiss you anymore," Harry whispered, resting his face on Draco's forehead.

"Why not?" muttered Draco.

"Because this thing between us will put you in danger. And I don't want that."

"I'm already in danger, don't be stupid Harry. Don't try to be noble around me."

"Still..."

"I can look after myself, but thanks for the concern. Now shut up and kiss me."

Draco smashed Harry's lips with his own, his tongue slipping inside Harry's mouth. Harry moaned, completely overwhelmed. He entwined his arms around Draco's neck.

"We'll need a cover up then," Harry said.

"We can think about that later."

Harry smiled and Draco felt his heart extending a red carpet for him. He was totally in love with Harry, even more than he thought. He could do anything Harry asked him to do except give him up.

"I forgot to thank you for rescuing me, even if it was a fake Harry. That was really impressive. Thanks... Draco," said Harry.

"It was nothing, Harry. Nothin' at all," Draco said, kissing him softly.