'And never come back.'
~ The River Path ~
Morning dawned, sprinkling the Drakon Wood with rays of warm sunlight. Despite having a mere one hours sleep between them, Harry and the others continued afoot, only Malfoy's navigation skills were proving to be a problem.
'I think if we keep walking north, we should - '
'North?' Ron butted in. `Ten minutes ago you wanted us to walk north-east!'
'Would you please keep your voice down, I can't think properly!'
'Didn't anyone bring a map?' Harry spoke over them. Krum shook his head sadly.
'No. Malfoy said he knew the vay.'
'Yes, Malfoy! You said you "knew the vay!" You're bloody hopeless! I knew you weren't to be trusted!'
Malfoy was thoroughly fed up with Ron's bickering, which he'd endured all morning. 'You just wait until our little truce is over, Weasley!'
'Is that a threat, Malfoy?' said Ron bitingly, glaring him in the face. 'If you're not careful, we'll send you back home to daddy Malfoy, so he can lock you up in your birdcage again like a giant budgie!'
'Enough you two!' Harry disciplined them. 'We'll never get any where like this. Remember, we're here to save Hermione.'
Ron and Malfoy held their tongues, but continued to exchange savage looks.
Harry's confidence was beginning to wane, considering the state of things. It was all so terribly disorganised. For one, they had no map, and Malfoy clearly didn't know the way to the Drakon's lair as well as he'd originally claimed, rendering him useless. Then there were the points Ron had raised, about Hermione being hypnotised, and the problem of finding a way to the top of Mount Olympus - no easy task. Harry blamed himself. He'd been so rushed and anxious to save Hermione, he hadn't thought anything through. This never would have happened if Hermione was in charge Harry thought, then realised the irony this entailed. Great! I need Hermione to save Hermione...
'Maybe one of us could climb a tree?' said Krum, running through ideas again. 'Vith the height, maybe ve could see the right vay?'
The moment Krum finished this sentence, a small army of voices sprouted from above.
'Not climbing in our tree they're not!' said the first voice.
'So rude!' said the second.
'So very, very rude!' said the third.
The boys looked up to a small flock of Wood Pixies, fluttering like Snitches; hovering in one place, and then zooming quickly to another. From what Harry could make out, there were two boys and a pretty girl Pixie. All of them were tree-green with elfish ears and chipmunk sounding voices. They didn't seem very happy.
'HUNTERS IN THE WOOD! HUNTERS IN THE WOOD!' one of the boy Pixies shrilled, sounding off like an alarm.
'WARN THE DRAKON!' said the girl.
'WARN THE DRAKON!' said the other.
'No no no!' Ron hollered, waving his arms. 'Don't warn the Drakon! Shut up!'
'Rude human!' said the first boy Pixie.
'Rude human most rude!' said the girl, and threw a chestnut at Ron's head.
'OUCH! Stop that!'
A smile appeared on Harry's face. These Pixies spoke of the Drakon; they may just be the break he was looking for. With this in mind, Harry attempted to speak with them more politely.
'Excuse me,' he began. 'We mean no harm, we're not here to hunt the Drakon. We're only here to search for our friend.'
'Yes, by any chance have you Pixies seen a young girl in the forest?' said Malfoy, catching Harry's drift.
The first boy Pixie zoomed down suddenly, popping up an inch from Harry's nose. Harry took a step back in shock.
'Not hunters?' he interrogated, his beady green eyes bulging with disbelief. 'Looking for a girl you say? Are you hearings this, Dew?'
'I hears it, Scat!' tweeted the brown-eyed girl Pixie named Dew. 'You hears it, Nut?'
'I hears it, Dew!' answered Nut, the last and smallest Pixie, who was as suspicious as the others.
'Yes, we're looking for a girl,' Harry reinforced. 'Please, have you seen her?'
'Why is this girl in the Wood?' chirped Dew. 'Is she a hunter?'
'No!' said Ron instantly. 'She's been hypnotised to go to the Drakon's lair against her will. It's very important we find her!'
'A likely story,' said Scat.
'Yes, likely,' said Dew.
'Likely, likely!' sang Nut.
'It's true!' Harry affirmed, keeping his anger in check. 'Have any of you seen her? Recently perhaps?'
Scat shook his green head. 'We have seen no girl, not a one! We suggest you leave this place, tis' not safe for young humans.'
'Then can you tell us the quickest way to the Drakon's lair?' Harry tried again, but this set them off.
'Drakon's lair? HUNTERS!'
'WARN THE DRAKON!'
'WARN THE DRAKON!'
'We're not HUNTERS!' yelled Ron, frustrated. 'We only want to stop our friend from going to the Drakon's lair!'
'Please help us,' said Harry, his desperation wearing thin. 'We'd be happy to do something for you in return.'
Harry must have said something right, because the Pixies had stopped their screeching. They were hovering steadily in the air, their pointy ears twitching with intrigue.
'Something in return?' said Dew.
Harry and the others nodded enthusiastically. The Pixies considered this wager, and then Scat said, 'quickest way to the lair of the Drakon? You are going to wrong way.'
Ron shot Malfoy a sharp look of contempt.
'Yes. You should follow the river path. It will take you to one of the lair's passages. We can show you the way, if...'
'If...what?' said Harry, hoping his offer to give the Pixies something in return didn't backfire.
'You give us your socks,' said Nut, eyeing their feet with a strange longing.
Ron, Malfoy and Krum looked at each other oddly and said, 'socks?' Harry laughed.
'What do you want our socks for?'
'Socks are warm!' said Scat.
'Very warm!' said Dew.
'Gets very cold at night...' said Nut, mocking a shiver.
'Of course!' said Ron all of sudden, turning to Harry. 'I remember Hermione telling me about Wood Pixies, and how they like to steal people's socks so they can use them as blankets during the night!'
'How foul,' scoffed Malfoy, turning up his nose.
'If you Pixies show us the way to this river path, I promise that you can have all of our socks,' said Harry.
'You swears it?' the three Pixies said together, quivering with glee.
'Cross my heart.'
They all squealed joyously, as the boys bent down to undo their shoelaces.
'Do you think they're related to Dobby by any chance?' said Ron, smiling at Harry.
With the guidance of the Wood Pixies, a sock-less Harry, Ron, Malfoy and Krum were shown the way to the river path. The Pixies left them here, assuring them as long as they followed the river, they'd make it. Heeding their advice, the boys trailed the river into the afternoon. They traveled into the twilight hours, never breaking a step, until they finally reached the bottom of Mount Olympus. All that stood between them and Hermione now was the black mouth of a cave.
'The Drakon's lair. We made it!' said Ron, collecting his breath.
'Do you think ve are too late?' said Krum, wiping perspiration from his brow.
'That's not an option,' said Harry flatly, his wand firm in his fist.
~ End Of Her Line ~
Hermione kept walking...and walking...and walking. All she could hear, see, or think about, was Lucius' words:
'I order you to walk into the Drakon Wood, and to not stop walking until you reach the Drakon's lair. When you reach it, go inside…and never come back.'
'And never come back,' Hermione repeated aloud, as if to convince herself why she should keep going. Somewhere, deep inside, she felt the urge to turn back; to run, for danger was about to strike. But, regretfully, Hermione couldn't hold onto this feeling. She couldn't make her body do what she wanted it to do.
'And never come back,' she said again, over and over.
A pair of yellow eyes watched her every move. Obscured in the shadows, the Drakon growled, incensed to see this intruder so carelessly wondering its territory. It let out a piercing, ancient roar that shook the very earth. Hermione tripped and fell, slamming her head against the ground. Lucius' words started to fade.
A/N: Thanks everyone! Had some great feedback this time round. Don't stop now, I've got lot's more on the way… :)
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