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Temporary Mate	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 17288 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am making no money from this story.

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Chapter Nine—The Great River
“Ready to go?”
Harry nodded and looked up at Draco, settling the cloak he’d Transfigured out of some spiky leaves over his shoulders. It had begun to rain, an odd rain, like everything about this dimension was odd. The water seemed to boil and fizz away a few inches from the ground, creating a mist that swam around their feet. But that meant it would still plop on his head and shoulders without the cloak and an Impervious Charm. “Yes. Are you going to keep your wings out when it’s raining like this?”
Draco cast him a sidelong look as he flapped lazily. “I thought you liked them.”
“They’re going to look substantially less handsome when they’re waterlogged.”
Draco gaped at him for a second, and about the time when Harry had begun to worry that he’d really hurt him, Draco laughed and drew his wings in. They turned to silver tattoos on his shoulder blades, and faded from sight. Draco stepped up to caress Harry’s cheek.
“You always know the right thing to say to me,” he murmured.
“I’m glad,” Harry said, and turned his head to the side to kiss Draco’s palm. “But let’s go, yeah?”
“You’re so eager to confront those Veela from Asovima?” Draco was opening the door, though, and casting the spell that reversed the house’s creation. It faded away and left them exposed to the slightly darker blue sky and the rain. Harry drew the hood of the cloak across his face and cast the Impervious Charm.
“I want you to be able to deliver your message, and then we can go home. Maybe if we don’t spend a lot of time around them, they won’t have a lot of time to say stupid things, either.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
And then Draco began to stride in front of him, and Harry fell in behind him, speeding up once they were down the side of the slope and he was sure it wasn’t muddy. Draco reached back and caught his hand without turning. Harry quickened his pace so they were walking shoulder-to-shoulder.
The pressure of Draco’s side against his kept him warmer than the cloak or the charm.
*
Draco paused when they came over the top of the highest hill they’d climbed yet, and he saw what awaited them.
Two days ago, when he’d confronted the Veela from Asovima, he’d sensed a great body of water to the east, or whatever the direction they had to travel in actually was, since the sun basically rose from everywhere. He’d thought it was probably a huge lake, and he could fly over it, carrying Harry, if he had to.
But he hadn’t counted on the rain. Harry was right. His wings would be too waterlogged if he tried to do it today.
And it wasn’t a lake, whose shore they could have traveled if they had to. Instead, a great river flowed at the bottom of the valley, coursing high and blue-green even though the rain shouldn’t have touched it with its refusal to actually fall on the ground. The waters shed a faint aqua light of their own as they ran. They were so high, or so wide, that Draco couldn’t see the far bank.
Draco licked his lips and glanced at Harry. “From here, I can’t see a bridge or a ford,” he said.
Harry was quiet for a few minutes, turning his head from side to side. Then he picked up his wand and flicked it hard, once. The silver Patronus that came bounding out made Draco blink and start in surprise.
Harry glanced at him, cheeks twitching, even as he spoke to the Patronus. “Go look for a bridge or other place to cross down the river. Come back to us if there is one.”
The stag bobbed its antlers and tore off down the riverbank. Draco smiled at Harry and renewed the Impervious Charm on Harry’s cloak as he noticed the rain dripping into his mate’s eyes. “Clever.”
“He’s made of light. The rain isn’t going to inconvenience him.”
Draco kissed Harry’s cheek. “It was clever anyway.”
Harry flushed like a boy. Draco wondered how unused he was to compliments, if a relatively mild one could make him do that.
And then he wondered how Harry could have any blushes left after some of the things they’d done in the past two days since their mating.
But he didn’t want to bring that up until they were safe in a warm, dry place where they could resume their activities. So Draco did nothing more than walk his fingers up and down Harry’s arm in promise, and cast some Warming Charms because the idiot hadn’t thought to do it himself, and wait.
The Patronus didn’t return. Harry grimaced. “No bridges or fords in that direction, then,” he muttered, and cast another Patronus. He sent this one upstream. Draco was wondering what would happen if this one didn’t find a crossing. It would be useless for them to walk. The Patronus could travel a lot faster than they could.
But it only took a few minutes before the Patronus came back to them, snorting and stamping. Draco smiled and made sure that he was taking the lead as they followed it down to the water. If there were dangers in the river, including the danger of being pulled away by the current, no need for Harry to risk them right away.
There was a single bridge around a bend in the river, a smooth arch of stone with a railing on only one side. The middle arched high enough for the rain to wet it. Draco shook his head. “Ask it to find another one.”
“Come on, Draco. I faced harder challenges than this during Auror training. And you know that we probably won’t find another one. This is like this because most people around here have wings and can either fly or balance themselves on the bridge.”
Draco grimaced. He hated admitting that Harry was right, but he probably was. “All right,” he said, and extended his wings, ignoring the way the rain promptly slammed into them and made his feathers wet and bedraggled. “Come here, then.”
“We’ll have to go in single file, Draco.”
“Only on the highest part of the bridge. Until we get there, you are walking next to me, and next to the railing.” Draco extended his left wing over Harry’s head before Harry could say anything.
Harry gave him a sharp glance, but ended up rolling his eyes, nodding, and turning towards the bridge. Draco moved towards the river with him, now and then flapping his right wing to get some of the moisture off.
For what little good it’ll do. The pace of the rain picked up, and although Draco was grateful not to have to slog through the mud that would have resulted if it was falling on the ground, he grimaced as he endured the little blows on his wings and head.
“Well, really,” Harry muttered, and waved his wand. Draco blinked as a transparent, flexible shield suddenly extended around his right wing. Harry did the same thing for the left wing a second later, and ducked back underneath it.
“What’s that spell? I’ve never seen it before.” The usual Impervious Charm could only be attached to cloth, not living material, and couldn’t easily be reshaped.
“I don’t know, actually,” Harry said, with a faint frown. “It just occurred to me that I could cast it, and that we needed something to keep you from being completely wet while we crossed the bridge. So I cast it.”
Draco tried not to chuckle, but he knew Harry could probably feel the smugness coming after him, because Harry rolled his eyes in his direction. “What?” Harry asked as they came to the bottom of the bridge. The slick stone rose immediately from the mud. At least it didn’t look as if it was going to come loose and wash away any time soon.
“Shared knowledge.” Draco bowed his head and blew warm breath on Harry’s ear. Harry jumped. “It means that you’re picking up on some spells that, most of the time, only Veela can cast. I don’t know the name or the incantation because I’m not a born Veela, but you picked up the knowledge from my mind. Mates do that, sometimes.”
Harry nodded slowly. “Well, if it helps me protect you better, then I don’t mind it. Now, come on. The sooner we’re over the bridge, the happier I’ll be.” He wrapped Draco’s left wing more firmly around his head, and took his first step.
Draco followed, soothing his own internal quiver. Harry wanted to be involved in defending Draco. Of course he did, when he was trained as an Auror. That didn’t mean he thought Draco was worthless as a protector. Draco shook his head and kept a vigilant eye on the river beneath as they neared the top of the arch.
However, nothing appeared. The rain continued to fall. The glowing blue-green water rose no higher. Draco crouched down and edged forwards a little as they came near the middle of the span, the part where he would have to let Harry walk ahead of him. No, the stone here was sturdy and uncracked. Whoever had built this had known what they were doing.
It was also slick as hell. That didn’t make him any happier.
“Do you want me to go in front?” Harry asked softly.
Draco straightened up and nodded. “I want to make sure that I’ll be in place to catch you if you fall,” he told Harry firmly. “And I’ll see it if it happens. Unless you’d be happy to see me back over the bridge and keep looking at you the whole time.”
Harry snorted. “No. All right.” He unwound himself from Draco’s left wing and moved forwards.
He was balancing well on the bridge, and Draco was only a few steps behind him as they moved on. They reached the highest point and continued down. Draco’s skin still prickled, though, with more than the impact of the rain or the spray from below. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen.
Harry walked lightly, and reached the part of the bridge that was wide enough for Draco to come up beside him. He turned around, smiling, his mouth open to say something.
Then the largest fish Draco had ever seen, gleaming wet and silvery, leaped from the river and grabbed Harry by his nearest leg. Harry went off the bridge with his arms flailing, and hit the surface of the surging water, and disappeared beneath it, along with the fish’s tail and the trailing edge of his cloak.
Draco gave a furious, eagle-like cry and dropped after them, as gracefully as he could, not caring that his wings were half-waterlogged from before Harry had cast his spell.
*
Shit!
Harry could feel the panic tearing through him, catching at his mouth and nose. He wanted to strike for the surface, to get a breath, and he couldn’t. The fish was dragging him down further and further. He’d lost all the air in his lungs when he hit the water. His leg hurt and shed swirls of blood that made it obvious how much damage he’d already taken.
But he was still an Auror. Harry tensed, waiting for the moment when he thought the fish would let go of him and then try for a better hold on his body with its immense jaws. It couldn’t swallow or tear him up with the grip it had.
The jaws gaped open. Harry immediately jackknifed his body out of the way and snapped his wand up to his face, casting the Bubblehead Charm. Even as he gasped in air, he had to roll frantically to escape the fish’s fin as it tried to club him.
Now!
Not all of the battle spells he knew were effective underwater the way they were above it, something he had known since fourth year and the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. But he’d received extra training since then, and he trained his wand on the fish and incanted as hard as he could.
“Fulgo!”
The lightning bolt was turned to pure electricity in the water; it tore through the damn stuff and targeted the fish, which promptly began thrashing around. Harry grinned a little as he watched it turn around and flee. Then he began to swim for the surface. The last thing he wanted was to find out what else might come after him.
He had to pull up when something started dropping towards him, though. A second later, he realized it was Draco, bravely and stupidly diving. Hopefully he at least had a lungful of air, since he didn’t have a charm around his head.
Harry shook his own head and swam up towards him. Draco promptly grabbed him and tried to haul him up to the surface, but their soaked robes dragged them down. Harry squeezed Draco’s hand and cast another charm, this time a modified form of Wingardium Leviosa that hovered beneath them and spat them upwards in a stream of bubbles.
In seconds, their heads popped out of the water. Harry gasped aloud, and then remembered the Bubblehead Charm and took it off. He turned to Draco, gently touching his face. He looked as if he might have hit his cheek when he dived off the bridge. “Are you all right?”
“I should be the one asking you that question.” Draco swept his huge, wet wings forwards around Harry, shutting out the sight of the river altogether. “I can’t believe—Harry, are you all right?”
“I think I need to have the wound on my leg tended,” Harry said gently. “That’s the only injury that I got, and it hurts a little.” Adrenaline was still surging through his veins, but he knew from experience that it would hurt a lot more when he calmed down.
Draco grabbed him and spread his wings, hammering down wingbeats. It wasn’t enough to lift them back to the bridge, or even out of the water, but he managed to turn them around and get them headed for the bank they’d come from. Harry collapsed gratefully on the smooth, silvery grass that grew right at the edge, glowing with strange shadows in the blue-green light from the river.
Draco promptly hopped up beside him and bent down to look at his leg. Harry looked himself, and grimaced. The rows of the fish’s saw-toothed jaws were clear on his leg, and the punctures were bleeding freely. He was lucky the fish hadn’t been big enough to bite all the way through his leg.
“You need to be healed,” Draco said. “You need more help than I can give you. I don’t—know all the spells.” His voice faltered a little.
Harry reached out and clasped his hand. “It’s all right, Draco,” he said. “I think I can still walk on it. And I’ve had worse wounds on Auror missions where I couldn’t get healing right away. I think I know how to lessen the bleeding, at least, and that will help. Can you get me sitting up, on your shoulder, so I can get the best angle to aim my wand at it?”
Draco did that, but Harry could still feel how tense and trembling his arms were. Harry turned his head a little as he got ready to aim the wand. “Draco? Are you okay? I saw your cheek was bruised. Are you—”
“No, I’m not hurt anywhere else, and the bruise is my own fault for diving after you the way I did,” Draco said harshly. “But I can’t heal you, and I couldn’t even eviscerate the fish for you. You took care of it all on your own.” He leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder and breathed in what might have been the scent of his skin. “I almost lost you,” he whispered.
“I know. But you’re helping me now by doing this. And we’ll make it. I promise.”
Draco’s hand tightened on his arm, then let go. Harry aimed his wand carefully and checked his memory of the incantation twice before he spoke it. “Ligo cruorem!”
There was a sharp spark from both his wand and the wound at the same time. Then the blood that had run down his skin but hadn’t actually fallen on the grass or in the water turned and flowed sharply backwards. It coiled all around the toothmarks, covering them up, acting as bandages until they got too tight to be comfortable and Harry canceled the spell with a wave of his wand.
He flexed his leg, testing, then nodded. Yes, that would hold. And the spell was easy enough to renew when the stress of walking got too much and the blood began to flow again.
“I couldn’t do anything to save you,” Draco muttered, but he drew his hands back so that Harry could stand up. Or try to stand up. He grimaced as his leg protested, and cast some charms that eased the pain.
One glance at Draco told Harry that Draco would insist on flying him everywhere if he showed how much the wound hurt, so he shook his head and moved forwards at a steady limp. “You did everything you could, and I couldn’t have got back to shore by myself. Not swimming against that current. Please stop worrying about it, Draco. Let’s get across the bridge and to a place we can make shelter for the night.”
After studying him with narrowed eyes for a long moment, Draco nodded and extended his wing. Harry leaned against him and made sure to limp as little as possible as they attempted the bridge again.
This time, nothing leaped out, or up, at them. Draco dropped back behind Harry as they crossed the middle, and Harry could feel him trembling. But they passed the dangerous area, and came back together long before the far bank.
Draco was still shaking with discontent, half-growling. Harry studied the back of his head for a second, and decided. Draco might think of himself as the ultimate protector, but as far as Harry was concerned, mates had a duty to take care of each other.
“Could we stop early tonight, do you think? I should probably rest the leg.”
Draco immediately perked up. Harry knew it was the thought of fussing over Harry and making him rest and eat and probably sleep on conjured sheets. “Of course,” Draco practically cooed, and began encouraging Harry to walk further, step by step.
It is nice to have someone who thinks primarily of me, Harry decided. As long as he lets me look after him, too.
*
Katsplay68: Thank you! I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.
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Temporary Mate