The Dragon Games

The portraits on the Headmistress' office blinked and stared as Aiyana confirmed Draco's story to Hermione, who was sitting with a straight, poised posture, listening intently.

"All three left this morning on the train, and are forbidden to ever step foot in Hogwarts again," Aiyana said assuredly.

"Malfoy told me that this morning," Hermione said, nodding.

"Did he?" Aiyana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry invited him to breakfast, I'm not sure why..." Hermione frowned. "Professor, may I ask you something?"

"Of course you may, Hermione, you may ask whatever you wish; however, I cannot promise you an answer," Aiyana told her in a soft voice.

"Why did you let Malfoy back into Hogwarts after what happened last year? How can you be so sure he's not part of Pansy's scheme?"

"Mr. Malfoy is back at Hogwarts because a few choice circumstances arose."

Circumstances? Hadn't Harry said the same thing about coming back to Hogwarts?

"Draco is not evil, I assure you, Miss Granger, and he knows far better than to risk his life divulging in plans with Miss Parkinson."

"Does he really know - I mean - that you're you?" she asked.

"Did he give you that sort of indication?"

"Yes, this morning at breakfast." Hermione nodded wearily.

"Mr. Malfoy is clever- nearly as clever as you, Hermione. He'd of course have figured out that you knew."

"Do you think he told Harry? Harry's been spending a lot of time with him lately," Hermione noted.

"I don't believe Mr. Malfoy would tell a soul, but, of course, I've been proven wrong before," Aiyana said, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Does it matter if Harry knows?"

"It would not help, but it certainly could hinder things," Aiyana said in a solemn voice. "Harry is destined for great things; Voldemort wants to know what Harry knows, and the less Harry has to tell, the better."

"You think they'd torture him?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.

"I think he'd tell them, though not on purpose, of course. Occulamency is not the only way they can get Harry to talk."

---

Harry was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and all he could think about was Draco. The same went for his Charms class, and every other class for that matter. He'd mostly drifted through the day, lost in daydreams.

When lunch came around, he went to find Draco. He found him coming up from the dungeons, arguing with Theodore Nott.

"I can talk to whoever I please, Nott," Draco hissed.

"You're giving yourself a bad rep-"

"I don't care what kind of reputation I have," Draco sneered. "Unlike some, I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

"You do now!" Theodore argued. "At least before you were hanging with the appropriate crowd, but now..."

"Bugger off, Nott, before I slug you one," Draco threatened.

Theodore looked over to see Harry approaching and glared. "See Draco! Now they're following you around. It's disgusting."

Draco looked up to see Harry arriving and he nodded his head in greeting.

"Hey," Harry said, ignoring Theodore.

"Hey," he replied.

"Tell him to drop dead, Draco!" Theodore ordered, continuing to glare at Harry.

"Drop dead, Nott," Draco growled.

"Pansy was right," Theodore said suddenly. "You really have lost it." He shook his head and brushed past Harry, slamming his shoulder into his as he went.

"Ouch," Harry said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Arse," Draco hissed after Theodore.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"He's jealous."

Harry lifted an eyebrow, and Draco sighed. "Pansy came to me and not him. You know he's dating Pansy right?"

"No, I didn't know," he said. "What did Pansy come to you for?"

"A Granger thing," Draco said. "He's also pissed because Pansy told him to be. I turned her offer down, and now she's sending her boy after me."

"I see." He nodded.

"Yeah, well..." Draco shrugged. "Up for some lunch?"

"Sure," he said, and the two started to walk towards the Great Hall. "Hey, whatever happened to Crabbe and Goyle?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"I haven't seen them around," Harry noted.

"Yeah." Draco paused. "They dropped out."

"Really?" he asked, "Why?"

"Their families are dead," Draco said, looking solemn.

"Dead?" he gasped. "But don't his parents support Voldemort?"

"They did." Draco shrugged. "It's a long story. Basically they betrayed him- not on purpose, but that's how the Dark Lord sees it."

"Wow," he said, bewildered.

"Harry, Malfoy," Hermione called to them from a nearby staircase.

The two stopped and turned.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted as she approached.

Draco didn't say anything.

"Malfoy, Aiyana wants you up in her office," Hermione said.

"Oh, alright." Draco nodded, and then turned to Harry. "Catch you later?" Draco asked, eyeing Hermione uncomfortably.

Harry looked awkward as well and nodded. "Yeah," he answered, wishing Hermione was somewhere else for a moment.

Draco gave a small smile and left up the way Hermione had come.

"You two are friendly," Hermione noted.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I guess we are."

Hermione looked at him for a moment, then said, "Aiyana trusts him a lot."

Again, he nodded.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Harry, I just wanted to say that if you have to have him over for vacation, then I guess I'm okay with that. But be careful, alright?"

"I will, Hermione," he said. "Don't worry."

She smiled. "Are you coming to lunch?"

"Oh," Harry paused. That just didn't sound like fun anymore. "Nah, I'll catch you in class."

"Alright," she said. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye."

As he watched her retreating back, he wanted to call her back and tell her the truth about what was going on with Draco. He wanted to tell someone who would listen, who would have a reaction to what he said so that he knew this was really happening, but he was too frightened to tell Hermione.

He made his way up towards the common room, and as he passed by Ginny and Luna coming down, he turned back without thinking.

"Ginny," he called. He didn't even pause to ask himself what he was doing. "Can I talk to you?"

---

Draco entered into the Headmistress' office. She was sitting, staring at papers on her desk.

"Professor?" he said as he pulled up a chair.

"Draco," Aiyana said, looking up. "How are you?"

"Okay," he said wearily. "What's going on?"

"I just finished talking with Miss Granger," Aiyana said with a slight smile. "She just told me a curious thing."

Draco just stared her in the eyes, remaining silent.

"You've been eating breakfast with Harry?"

"Just this morning," he said slowly.

"You are being careful, Mr. Malfoy?" Aiyana asked. "Like we discussed?"

"Of course."

"You haven't told Harry about my secret?"

"Of course not," Draco lied, and it was a very believable lie. "Why would I tell Potter any of what he doesn't need to know about?"

"Indeed, Mr. Malfoy," she said.

"Ha- Potter just wanted to keep me under a closer watch. He recently got a visit from two house-elves," he said, hoping this meant something to Aiyana because he wasn't quite sure of its meaning.

"And these house-elves told him what happened when you went to see Voldemort?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "That's it, really."

"Are you sure?" Aiyana asked.

Why didn't he tell Aiyana the truth? Because he'd need to give her an explanation, and the only explanation he had was something that even Dumbledore probably wouldn't understand.

"Yes," he said firmly.

"And your father?"

"I sent him a letter this morning," he said.

"Very good," Aiyana said. "And you're visiting Harry this vacation?"

Draco grimaced for a moment. She knows that too?

"Yeah," he answered.

"If you feel it wise, then I won't object," she said wisely. "But if your father finds out..."

"I know," he said quickly. "He won't find out."

---

Ginny had a look of pure terror and confusion on her face.

Harry had just led her into an empty room, thoughts spinning rapidly in his head.

"Harry, what's going on?"

"I think I'm dating Draco," he blurted out.

And there's the face. The face that he could expect to see from every one of his friends when he told them.

Ginny's mouth opened, but she was not capable of speech. Harry seized the moment to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said. "I didn't mean to tell you like that. I've just been thinking... I'm so sorry... Are you okay?"

"I-I... What?" she sputtered.

"I think I really like him," he said.

"Okay... You like him... Harry... did you just say the words 'dating him'...?" She still looked petrified.

Harry blushed. "Well, yes."

"Oh, I-I... I don't know what to say... Or do... Harry..." Ginny trailed off.

"It's okay Ginny, I understand. I just had to tell someone."

"You told me... You told me..." She frowned.

"Forget it," he said quickly. "I just had to say the words, that's all."

"Forget it? Harry, you just told me you're dating Malfoy!" she said, slowly figuring out what was happening.

"It's the truth," he shrugged.

"You're... You're not gay, are you? I mean..." she stammered, indicating herself. The message was clear: you went out with me.

Harry just stared at her. This had been a huge mistake; Ginny was definitely not the person who should have been the first to know.

"With Malfoy?" she asked, trying to make sense of Harry's words.

He nodded.

"Oh, my." She inhaled deeply.

"Don't tell anyone yet, okay Ginny?" he asked.

"Of course not. But, Malfoy?"

He smiled and let out a low laugh.

Ginny sighed. "No offense Harry, I think it's nice that you told me and all, but to laugh about it? I still have feelings for you..."

His face fell. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She shrugged. "You didn't tell me to still like you. But can I ask you something that may seem weird?"

"Shoot," Harry said.

"You dumped me last year because you were worried about me getting hurt. Are you not afraid that Malfoy will get hurt loving you?" she asked, eyeing him.

Harry paused.

"It's okay, Harry," she said quickly. "I get it now."

"Get what now?" he asked, confused.

"Get why we can't be together," she said softly, and started to walk away.

"Ginny," he said, feeling awful.

She turned back around. "Harry, you seem happy- you are, right?"

Harry gave her an assured smile. "I am."

"Then go be happy. Just not around me," she added as an afterthought, and gave him a slight grin as she left the room.

Harry stared after her. At least she understood; she didn't judge him. Ron, on the other hand, would be a different story.

---

The rest of the week dragged on for Harry, mostly because the only time he ever saw Draco was in Potions class, and Professor Aiyana kept pairing Harry up with Ron. They would shoot each other glances from across the room, but that was it. As for breakfast, Harry didn't try to have Draco over again because Ron put up a huge fight about it, and he didn't want a repeat from their first morning.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, he met up with Draco out on the Quidditch pitch.

"You're not playing Quidditch this year," Draco said as Harry approached.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Shame," Draco said, the breeze blowing back his hair. "You're really good."

Harry smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. You're not half bad yourself."

Draco smirked, "Oh, I'm better then you."

"You wish."

Draco winked. "Just keep telling yourself that, it might sink in."

Harry just shook his head, laughing. This little banter was actually fun.

"Let's walk," Draco suggested.

Harry nodded and the two started towards the lake.

"I told someone about us," he said slowly.

"Oh, did you?" Draco said as if intrigued.

"I told Ginny."

Draco started to laugh. "You what?"

"Yeah," Harry grinned. "I had to tell someone, and she sort of passed by. I just couldn't get my mind off you."

He noticed Draco turn a little pink.

"Well, what did she say?" Draco asked.

"She- uh- I dunno, really. She said that I should be happy and that I seemed happy- or at least that was the coherent part of the conversation."

Draco shrugged. "Good, 'cause I didn't fancy having to fight her for you."

Harry laughed and Draco smacked him lightly.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked, laughing still.

"Get that image out of your head!" Draco demanded.

"What image?" he said, somewhat sheepishly.

Draco smirked.

They were standing at the edge of the lake. The sun was slowly setting and its rays sparkled in reflection of the lake.

"It's beautiful," he said, looking out.

Draco nodded. "You have no idea."

He turned to look at Draco, whose eyes were off somewhere else as he gazed into the distance.

"I know of a place," Draco said dreamily. "It's so beautiful you'd actually lose yourself there. Every trouble disappears, and nothing matters for the few moments you are there."

"Wow," he said softly. The place sounded wonderful.

"I'll take you there sometime if you want," Draco said, turning towards him.

"I'd like that," he smiled.

"Good," Draco said.

Draco took Harry's hand and turned back towards the lake. Harry stared at him for a moment, and then gazed out at the setting sun as well.

---

The next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Draco all got on the train with dozens of other students who were leaving for the holiday.

The trouble with the compartments was that there was really only room for four. Harry was trying to find a quick escape out of Hermione and Ron's compartment and found the opportunity when they began to get gushy, whispering into each others ears and sending each other looks of fondness.

Harry made a loud "ahem" noise and they broke it off.

"I think I'll leave you two alone," he said quickly.

"You don't have to, mate," Ron said, only half-heartedly.

"It's okay," he insisted. "You two have fun."

Harry quickly slid out of the compartment and went looking for Draco. Unfortunately, Luna and Ginny found him first.

He sat down in their compartment and settled in, knowing it wouldn't be easy to get away. Ginny didn't act any different, and Harry couldn't figure out if it was because she didn't want to think about it or because she just truly didn't care.

"So, you two are going to Grimmauld Place for the vacation?" Luna asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Percy is probably going to show up," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow at Luna.

Clearly something was going on that Harry didn't know about, because he had no idea what Percy showing up had to do with anything.

"Fleur and Bill are already there because Mum and Dad went on some sort of thing for the Order, and they didn't want us to be alone."

"Order thing?" he asked. He hadn't heard anything about that.

"Mum and Dad didn't exactly tell us," Ginny explained. "We just assumed, as they said it was top secret and we wouldn't be allowed to send messages to them for a few weeks."

He nodded; Lupin's message to him was probably almost as vague as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's letters to their children. All Lupin had told him was that there were major complications arising and they had to be dealt with immediately; of course it hadn't been safe to say any details in a letter, so he just had to wait until he arrived home.

Neville joined them halfway through their journey, and the topic turned to the D.A.

"Have you given up on it?" Luna asked in a misty voice.

"No, I haven't." He shook his head and with a shrug, said, "I just have been really busy."

"Gran says that I should be practicing this stuff on my own, even if you don't have any more meetings," Neville said.

"You should," Harry agreed.

"We all should," Ginny said.

When that topic died down, the four of them talked about nothing in particular, and Harry's thoughts were everywhere but in the room.

Three-fourths the way through the journey, Harry gave up on trying to be discreet on sneaking out.

"I'm going out for some fresh air," he said rather loudly in the middle of a conversation on Fred and George's joke shop.

Neville and Luna went quiet to stare at him, but Ginny just nodded.

"Go ahead," she said. "I'm sure we can keep up conversation without you."

"Actually, I'd like some fresh air, too," Neville squeaked, looking a little pale from the bumpy train ride.

Harry exchanged a look with Ginny, who quickly recognized his panic.

"Luna, let's take Neville down to Hermione for a spell to calm his nerves," Ginny said.

Harry silently thanked her with a head nod and made his way out of the compartment before they could help Neville up. He made his way down the train and found Draco's compartment.

Inside, the blonde boy was fast asleep, curled up along the seat cushions, but was startled awake as the door snapped closed.

"Who's there?" Draco murmured.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry for waking you."

Draco blinked a few times to wake himself up. "Oh, it's alright. What took you so bloody long?"

"Couldn't get away, sorry," he said softly.

"Come here," Draco said, patting the seat next to him.

Harry sat and found Draco's arm wrapping around his shoulders.

"You should get some sleep," Draco suggested to him. "You look exhausted."

He yawned in response but muttered, "I'm fine, let's just talk. Keep me awake."

He rested his head on Draco's shoulder and felt his hair being tussled by the other boy. Such affection he wasn't used to, even from Ginny. Not that he was complaining- it was just unusual.

"What do you want to talk about?" Draco asked, his cool fingers brushing his cheek.

"Something interesting," he replied sleepily.

"Lay down," Draco whispered into his ear.

"I'll fall asleep," he protested quietly.

"That's okay."

Harry finally gave in, moving his legs onto the cushions and finding his head in Draco's lap. Staring up at the boy's perfectly smooth face, he lost touch with reality as Draco played with his hair. Draco spoke to him, but every word came out sounding like gibberish.

He could only concentrate on the former Slytherin's eyes that reminded him of winter; gray and blue, flakes of white, sparkling in the dim sunlight. He could only pay attention to the way the blonde's hair fell into his face in rhythm of the bouncing train; the way his perfect pink lips looked so kissable that he just wanted them against him; the fact that Draco's hand that was not in his hair had just taken a hold of one his hands in a tight grasp, warming him. He could only concentrate on his perfectly sculpted face that was so serene, so angel-like. He was a mortal angel. Harry's mortal angel.

He smiled softly and saw Draco give him a small smile in return. Then the blonde went back to talking, and still, Harry couldn't understand, until he had repeated himself a few times.

"What?" Draco frowned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no," he said, grinning a little, and softly he whispered, "You're just so... beautiful."

---

Draco looked at him like a deer stuck in the headlights for a moment and slowly his face began to soften. No one person, not even Pansy, had ever called him beautiful before. He was sure they must have thought it, but it was so much better to hear it coming from Harry's own mouth.

"Vos es meus décor," he whispered to Harry.

The boy didn't even look fazed; Draco had been going in and out of Latin for the passed half hour, and Harry hadn't seemed to understand even the words in English. It was just so surreal to have someone so fascinated in him, that they could just peacefully watch him for hours.

Harry finally closed his eyes, his black lashes fluttering behind his glasses. Draco moved his hand away from Harry's hair and carefully plucked the glasses off his face, being sure not to wake him.

This was happiness Draco had never felt before. Just being close to someone without having to worry about the apocalypse or war, because that's what Harry did to him- made everything else seem unimportant, that nothing else mattered but the two of them in that one moment.

At the same time, it was strangely frightening. What was he capable of forgetting while being that wrapped up in someone? What was he capable of allowing himself to do? It was the first time Draco knew he'd give anything for someone else, do anything to make them happy, even without considering his own needs.

That alone frightened him more than anything.

From beyond the compartment, Ginny stopped as she was passing by, and her eyes landed on the sleeping Harry and the half-asleep, half-entranced Draco. He looked up at her with an expressionless face and she stared back for a moment.

They held each other's gaze as if silently communicating, Ginny telling him to watch his step, but wishing him happiness; Draco letting her know with just a nod of his head that he understood and would try to never hurt him.

She moved away from the compartment door with a last look, and Draco turned back to Harry feeling completely at ease.

The train started to come to a stop an hour later, and Draco awoke Harry soundlessly. The two retrieved their suitcases from the overhead compartment and began to exit the train.

---

Four figures were in a darkened business building, each wearing a black cloak and with their wands out.

They were sneaking into a back area, keeping silent as they moved across a long hallway. There were walls and walls of bookshelves as they went along, looking for something.

"Anything," one of the figures asked so softly that they could barely hear it.

"Not yet," the leading figure whispered.

The four continued down a few halls of just more books and stopped swiftly when they heard a loud creak of the wooden floors. They stood still for a moment, making sure the noise was nothing. When they had waited a sufficient amount of time, they headed back down a row of books.

The leading figure motioned for the others to follow him through a door, and as they entered, a man with silver-blonde hair, gray eyes, and a smirking face came up to the door and peered in after them. The figures had no idea the man was there.

He whispered something to a woman who approached him from behind.

"Bellatrix," he whispered. "Now."

Both the man and Bellatrix went into the room.

The four figures who had not been expecting them were quickly caught off guard. Without much of a fight, Bellatrix disarmed and knocked two of the figures out.

The man managed to get one of the other figures disarmed and both of them cornered. Bellatrix busied herself with tying up her two figures while Lucius dealt with his.

"Lucius!" one of the figures cried as the man in question put his wand to his face.

Lucius grinned evilly and opened his mouth to speak. There was a loud feminine squeak from the armed figure as she lunged at Lucius, who quickly realized what was going on and shot her back with his wand. Her head smacked the wall and she fell, nearly unconscious, to the ground. The man let out a loud cry and Lucius put his wand on him again.

"You will watch her die!" Lucius growled. He muttered the full body-bind curse on the figure and turned his wand to the woman.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The figure let out a very muffled cry as he saw the flashing green light hit the intended target. Her head hit the floor, lifeless.

Lucius then turned to the man.

"Now," he smiled. "It's your turn."