Can Love Survive...

The week seemed to drag by for Harry, and Saturday didn't seem to be a'toll in sight he grimly thought for the thousandth time that week. He'd been set up by Dudley at least once for something he didn't do as usual, been caught by Dudley and his gang at least 4 times resulting in yet another round of bloody noses, and 2 days he got shut up in the cupboard other then when he had chores and meals for nearly burning breakfast the other day.

To make matters worse, Dudley's 9th birthday had been this week, and Harry had been packed off to Mrs. Figgs house, which was unpleasant enough in itself. Not that he really hated Mrs. Figg, he didn't, but her endless droning of her many assorted cats, and the stale chocolate cakes she had, were enough after all these years to make him quite ill feeling by the time he left. He'd no alternative though to go there, for his aunt and uncle would rather die then allow him to stay even in his cupboard during Dudley's party. Not that he really wanted to considering who would be there, including his dreaded Aunt Marge Dursley. On second thought Harry figured Mrs. Figg's cat stories were the better of the lot.

Finally Saturday rolled around, and without seeming too eager, Harry glumly followed his Aunt Petunia as they made their way to the hairdressers shop in London. Aunt Petunia gave him the normal speech bout getting into trouble, and staying out of the way, and went inside the shop, oblivious the fact that Harry hadn't even bothered to answer her back, just nodded his head yes and no.

He sat down on his normal bench outside the shop, and waited his customary few minutes to make sure she wasn't going to pay him any more attention, and faster then you could say jackrabbit, he flew from the bench and headed round to the park in the back of the shop, hoping that last Saturday hadn't just been a fluke.

He got to the gate, but this time, as always, it was shut, and he was alone again as usual. Sighing with a bit of disappointment, he walked into the park and went over to the bench and lay down on it, gazing up into the sky. Today was a bit cloudy, and for the next 15 minutes or so Harry played his imagination games with them, trying to see what he could make the clouds look like.

So caught up in the shapes he was seeing, he never noticed the silvery blond haired boy silently come into the park, nor did he notice the boy had been watching him for the past few minutes. Like Harry, Draco had found this to be one of the longest weeks he'd endured in a while, and not just because of his father or mother, but because it seemed so long until he could see Harry again. He saw Harry gazing up at the clouds, and for a moment his face looked wistfully up towards the clouds as well, wishing in a small way he was like those clouds. That he too could float away at will, to not have to be beholden to anyone but themselves. But wishes never do come true, Draco knew that.

"I think that one's a horse...or maybe a mule...what do you think?" Draco said then, wanting to break out of his maudlin thoughts, and grinned as Harry jumped up and turned to him.

"Oi dont do that, you scared me Drake!" he said with a growl. Looking up though at what Draco was seeing in the sky, he saw what Draco was talking bout, and with a little grin said, "A horse, it looks too regal to be a mule."

"It could be a rich mule." Draco said chuckling.

"Right, and I'm Prince Albert. Where've you been, I thought you weren't going to show up." Harry said turning back to Drake and looking at him accusingly.

"Sorry bout that, mum couldn't find her diamond earrings and took forever to have the house...er...to find them. Turns out they were right infront of her the whole time." Draco said with a mutter and sat down next to Harry on the bench.

"Bugger, diamond earrings? Wow....my Aunt Petunia I dont think even owns a pair of those. The only diamond she's got is her wedding ring, and it's a pretty small one." Harry said awed.

Draco shrugged, "It's really not a big deal. Mum's got tons of jewellery, she just does it to show off though. So, what do you want to do today?" Draco said now changing the subject. He really didn't want to discuss his family with a muggle, even if he was his best friend.

Harry shrugged too, "I dont know, got any ideas?"

"Not really. Do we have to stay in the park though?" Draco said thoughtfully.

Harry looked at him surprized. "No, but I never really explored anywhere's else round here, just in case."

"Well, it's still pretty early, we've got a couple hours to fend off, I say we go explore...you game?" Draco said with a hint of a grin.

Harry suddenly grinned as well, "Right then...let's go see what's out there!" and grabbing Draco by the arm with a laugh, the two boys left the safety of their little park to explore.

By the time they got back to the park about an hour and half later, they'd had discovered quite a bit actually of the area round them. Some things they swore they would never go back to, and had mental notes of places that definitely needed more examination, like the bookseller and the bakers. They'd stopped at the sweets store as well, and at Draco's insistence, and the fact Harry had no money of course of his own, they had walked out with a small bagful of assorted chocolates and the like, which they couldn't wait to get back and break into.

"Mmm...these sweets are terrific, thanks Drake! I feel bad I couldn't help you pay for it though..." Harry said licking his fingers of any last remnants of chocolate and sighing as well.

"Dont be, from the way it sounds you're aunt will never give you even a pence. I get an allowance so my money is mine, mum cant tell me what to do with it. And it was for a good cause anyway, sides that's what friends are for." Draco said with a smile.

"You're right. Still hard to believe I have a friend...that we're friends I mean. I know we've only seen each other twice, but I couldn't wait for Saturday to come round to see you Drake. It was bloody hell getting through the week, at least I had today to look forward to." Harry said leaned back against the bench, and gazed back up at the sky thoughtfully.

"I know, I kind of felt the same way. I never had a friend before, not a real one anyway, it feels sort of odd." Draco said leaned back as well against the bench and looking up at the ever moving clouds.

"I hope we'll always be friends Drake, if you dont mind me saying. It's nice having someone to talk to who doesn't want to beat me up or make me cook a meal or lock me away somewhere." Harry said.

"I hope so too Harry, I hope so too." Draco said softly, and for the next hour or so, the two boys talked bout anything they could think of, everything that was but themselves of course. That was something they really didn't care bout, and Draco knew it would be a dangerous subject anyway.

Finally the time came to part ways again, and the boys said their goodbyes.

"Same time next week right?" Harry said looking at Draco worriedly.

"I"ll be planning on it. And next week I might even bring a surprize!" Draco said with a hint of laughter in his grey eyes, and got up and walked over to the gate, waving at his best friend as he walked through it, and glad that Harry had been waiving back.

As Draco left the park Harry felt quite a few different emotions run through him. He was happy bout how the day had gone, sad that it was over and Draco was gone now, and worried that he wouldn't be back. Draco had told him more then once that this was all based on a whim from his mum, and it could change at any time without notice, although both boys hoped that would never happen. Waiting a little bit longer after Draco left, he went back to his bench to wait for his aunt, and half hour later found himself back in his cupboard room in Privet Drive, all the while wishing that this coming week would pass alot quicker then the previous week did.

Harry wasn't disappointed either, for Saturday this time seemed to come up on him almost too quickly, and soon enough he found himself off and running to the little park in the back of the hairdressers. And this time he was rewarded with an open gate.

"Your here! You got here first this time!" Harry said grinning when he saw his friend sitting on the bench waiting for him, a smile across his face as Harry flew in the gate.

"Mum's in a hurry this week apparently. Got a compliment from one of her little friends on how good her hair was looking, so she wanted to make sure she got in alot of time today. It's great to see you Harry, I couldn't wait for this week to end!" Draco said laughing.

"I know, I got stuck weeding the entire yard yesterday on the threat I wouldn't be allowed to come today if I didn't. Took me over half the day but there was no way I was going to go to Mrs. Figg's instead!" Harry said flopping down on the bench next to Draco.

"Well I'm glad you didn't, I brought that surprize I promised." Draco said grinning, then reached underneath the bench and pulled out something that made Harry's eyes grow round in surprize.

"A picnic basket? Unbelievable!" Harry said laughing.

"I put it together myself. Even if this place is back of beyond, doesn't mean we cant eat like kings!" Draco said grinning and relieved Harry liked his surprize.

"It's wondrful Drake, really. Should we eat first, or explore more first?"

"Let's explore first, I just had breakfast a bit ago. We'll work up a bit of an appetite while exploring. This time though let's stay away from those made up woman okay? They gave me the chills." Draco said wrinkling up his nose.

Harry laughed and nodded. "Deal. I hate being told how 'cute' I am, and such a fine looking lad I am and all that rubbish. Woman!" he said gazing up.

"I know, it was ruddy disgusting! One of them even had the audacity to pinch my cheek when she said that!" Draco said feigning a retching sound.

"Come on then, we're wasting time. I know, want to check out that booksellers? I get to go to the library once in a while, but never allowed to take away anything. And never get to see new ones..want to go?" Harry said glancing at Draco.

Draco looked at Harry for a second a bit oddly, but only said, "Sure Harry, I'd love to. Let's go then!" and Draco stood up grabbing Harry's arm, and both boys headed out of the park to the booksellers.

"Wow this is great! Take a look at this one Drake, it's got vampires in it...ewww gross, they drink blood!" Harry said making a gagging noise which caused Draco to laugh.

"They aren't the best sort of creatures I know. Let's find a different section allright Harry?" Draco said glancing at the books and getting a bit nervous.

"Oh come on, not scared are you Drake? This stuff's not real anyway, I mean come on...vampires, werewolves, witches and wizards...they're not real anyway so there's nothing to be afraid of." Harry said seeing Draco's expression.

"I'm-I"m not afraid you git, I just dont like reading bout this stuff allright? Come on Harry, let's go look at something else...." Draco said, but Harry wasn't so put off.

"My Uncle Vernon says there's no such thing as magic, so how can you not like something that's not real? I bet all these people who think they can do magic are just making it up anyway. Spells and cauldrons and flying on broomsticks...it's all rubbish." Harry said sighing wistfully, causing Draco to look at him sharply.

"What if...what if it was real Harry? What if all this.." and he spread his hands out indicating all the books and whatnot, "what if it really was all real? Then what would you do?" He looked sharply at Harry now seeing his reaction.

Harry thought bout that for a moment, then laughed. "Since it's all a bunch of lies it doesn't matter what I'd do bout it Drake. If it really buggers you then we'll go somewhere's else allright?" and with that turned and started to walk over to the section in which the mystery books like Sherlock Holmes were at, not realizing that for a moment Draco hadn't followed him.

*What would you do if you knew what I was Harry...would you hate me then?* Draco thought silently and with a small sigh shook his head. It wouldn't do any good for him to linger on that thought, and he followed Harry to the mystery section, only half listening now to what Harry was going on bout over this Sherlock Holmes person.

Half an hour later, to Draco's relief, they were back in the park, Harry's thoughts far away now from the 'magic' books in the booksellers. He took out the picnic basket, and walked over to a small patch of grass on the far side of the park, and waited for Harry to come over. From the top of the basket he pulled out a nice sized blanket, and set it down, putting the basket ontop of it to keep it down and then sat down on it, glancing over to Harry.

"Well? You going to just stand there or join me Harry? No fun eating a picnic alone." Draco said grinning up at him, and with a nod Harry sat down next to him on the blanket.

"Sorry, guess I"m still in awe over the booksellers. So many books! I wish I had enough money to buy them all, I'd never care again if I didn't leave my cupboard." Harry said with a sigh.

"Well I would, I'd never see you again." Draco said hurriedly, and began to take the food out of the basket.

"Oh, that's true! Allright then, I'd never leave it except for Saturday's!" Harry said laughing now and started to help Draco arrange things on the blanket. "Oh wow Drake, how'd you manage all this?" he said awed now.

"Oh...err...basket's bigger then it looks I guess. Anyway, got all the basics here..let's see...crisps, biscuits, cheese, some savory biscuits, chocolates, some sandwiches with I think roast beef in them....oh lets see here...some treacle, sultanas, a wedge of gammon, some jam, couple other things..oh and of course, to top it all off, some extra fizzy lemonade!" Draco said pulling out the last item and grinning at Harry.

"Unreal, it's truely a feast Drake, you're amazing!" Harry said happily.

"Well then Sir Harry, let's eat!" Draco said laughing.

"By all means Sir Drake!" Harry said and they dug into their 'feast'.

Half an hour later, after they had cleaned up what they hadn't eaten, they were laying down side by side on the blanket full to the brim, then Harry said, "I dont think I can eat again for a week...that was peachy Drake, thanks."

"Told you, that's what friends are for Harry. I'm glad you liked it though." Draco said a bit sleepily.

"Dont you nod off Drake, I'm pretty sure it's almost time for your mum to get done." Harry said trying not to yawn himself.

"Sounds like I"m not the only one. Guess I'll have to come up with something even better for next week." Draco said yawning.

"Dont overdo yourself Drake, might attract attention. Wasn't your mum a'toll wondring why you'd brought the basket today?"

"No, I just told her I nearly starved myself last week while waiting, and wasn't about to this week, so she said it was allright. I'm pretty sure I can sneak it every Saturday now, if you want me to."

"As if I wouldn't! Best meal I've eaten I think in my whole life, and I didn't have to cook it!" Harry said laughing.

Draco didn't say anything, just thought bout that. He really felt bad for his friend, it hurt him how his relatives treated him so awfully. "They're a bunch of prats you're family Harry, why do you have to stay there?" he said pulling up on his elbow to look at Harry.

Harry shrugged. "Have to I guess. My aunt and uncle were the only family I had left when my parents died. at least that's what they tell me and there's no reason they'd lie to me I think. They hate me, but they never lied to me before. Could have been worse I suppose." Harry said softly.

"How much worse could it have been? Anything has to be better then the Dursleys." Draco said.

"I could have ended up in an orphanage, that's how."

"Oh. That's true I guess. Glad though you didn't, then I wouldn't have met you. You...you are glad we met..aren't you Harry?" Draco asked quietly.

Harry looked up at Draco and nodded, then smiled. "You're the best thing that's ever come along in my almost 9 years of life Drake. I'm really glad we met, and I really hope we'll always be friends. I know....let's make a pact Drake..."

"A what?" Draco said confused.

"A pact. That's no matter what, we'll always be friends. What do you say?" Harry said sitting up now and looking Draco in the eyes.

Draco tilted his head like he usually did when he was thinking hard on something, then slowly nodded his head. "Allright, I'd like that Harry. But let's do it in my way. Make it a real pact, not just a verbal one."

"What do you mean by that Drake?" Harry said, now it was his turn to be confused.

"A blood pact Harry. The most powerful bind two people can forge together, unbreakable no matter what. You willing?" Draco said, never taking his eyes off Harry's.

Slowly Harry nodded, "I'm willing Drake. Let's do it then."

Draco took out one of the knives he'd brought with him for the cheese which had a sharp point. Taking Harry's wrist in his hand, he pressed it to Harry's skin, and though Harry gasped a bit, he didn't flinch when he drew the blade acrost Harry's skin, creating a small slit that quickly filled with blood.

Handing the knife to Harry then, he told him to do the same thing to Draco's wrist, and though he too gasped when the blade cut him, he didn't flinch either. After they had done that, Draco took Harry's wrist to his own, and looking Harry in the eyes said softly,

"With this blood I bind you to me as I to you. No matter what happens from this moment on, we will forever be bound by the promise of friendship. Even if we get separated, and forget each other somehow, our marks made with our own hands willingly, will always be a reminder that our blood has been mixed. From this day forth, I will always know who you are as you will know me, for now we are one."

As Draco finished the verse Harry felt a warmth spread through his body, and he could tell Draco was feeling the same thing. It wasn't painful, even the wound made didn't seem to hurt any longer, and suddenly he felt a sense of security and safety he had never felt in his life. He knew Draco felt the same way, though how he knew he wasn't sure, but he did know. It was like looking at the world in a new light, and wasn't surprized that Draco's grey eyes were revealing the very same thing.

Draco finally broke the hold he had on their wrists, pulling them apart, though for a moment he still couldn't speak. He knew what he had just done, and though someday he might pay for mixing his pureblood with that of a muggle, he didn't care. What good was being a pureblood if you were going to be lonely, miserable and hated anyway? As far as Draco saw things, blood binding with Harry was the best thing he'd ever done in his life, and he didn't care bout any consequences.

Without saying a word then, Draco reached into the basket and pulled out a serviette, and started to clean the blood off their wrists. It wasn't until Harry gasped suddenly that he even noticed anything was wrong. "What is it Harry? What happened?" he said worriedly.

"Drake...maybe I'm...seeing things...I'm still feeling a bit odd..but...well...was this supposed to look like...this?" Harry said, and showed Draco his wrist.

Draco looked at Harry's wrist, surprize on his face, then checked his own wrist, only to find the same thing had happened. Shaking his head and going a bit paler then normal even, he barely whispered, "I..I dont know Harry...I dont know..."

The few moments silence and wonder was broken then as they heard Draco's mum calling for him, and quickly they cleaned up everything and got up. Draco was a bit nervous, he wasn't a'toll sure what had happened, but he intended to find out somehow, even if he had to break down and ask his father...in a subtle sort of way.

"Drake? You'll....you'll be back right?" Harry said now, still a bit subdued.

Draco nodded, "Of course. You'll be allright?"

Harry nodded back to him and gave him a faint smile, "Yeah, I"ll be allright. Go on, she's calling. Dont want you in trouble now."

Draco faintly smiled back, and turned round, then turned back. "Thanks Harry...for everything..." he said softly, and before Harry could even respond, ran back round the front of the hairdressers and out of sight, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

It had been an odd day, and that was an understatement. He sat down on the bench, holding his wrist in his hand, and gazing at it like he'd never seen it afore. He wondred what had happened, and how. A tiny, very tiny part of him seemed to struggle with something, seemed to know something, but he pushed it away. There was no point thinking like that, and no point a'toll thinking Drake had been the cause of it.

As he brushed his fingertips over the now almost fading scar that was left behind where there should have been a still fresh wound, a part of his mind seemed to wake up and remember something else...something almost like from one of the books he'd been reading earlier...and as he finally left the small park, closing the gate behind him, words came to his mind like the whisper of the wind...and running from them to meet his aunt, the same words burned into him until sleep finally overtook him that night.

*Magic....it was just like magic....*

* * * * *

Well...that's bout it for the 'prequel'..not that I'm going to give away anything mind you...but let's say from here on out things are going to take a very different turn...and a very familiar one at that :grins: Till next time! :)

2002-03-10 2:34:20 AM