Unbound

chapter twelve.

Draco was unsurprised that the Caithness house had not been found earlier.

Despite the simple look, he could easily sense the large amounts of magic radiating off of the cream colored walls. It was hidden well enough not to draw attention from either Muggles or wizards - to Muggles, it looked run down and abandoned, but to wizards it seemed too mundane, too plain, too muggle.

When he approached it, Draco wasn't sure the Death Eaters got the right information. It was in the middle of a forest that wasn't too dense with plant life, but had just enough to cover the view of the house from a far distance. He had felt the magic pull him in and followed that until the house met his eye.

It was a simple cream colored manse that was far from grand or pristine. It had a single front door with five windows surrounding it - two beside the door and three above - but they were blacked out and covered by curtains that Draco guessed didn't allow a single ray of natural light in. The roof was a dark blue and slanted down towards the door with dust and leaves visible even from afar. The house seemed too obvious to be a rendezvous point so running with the rebel children theory was all Draco had left.

He skirted around the home in a radius of about 10 yards sneaking between small bushes and the large trunks of trees available. He kept his wand in its holster, deciding not to draw it until absolutely necessary but he didn't see that happening at five in the morning.

He drew the hood of his cloak further down his forehead keeping his hair hidden as he steadied his breath and peered around a tree to get a view of all the exits in the manse. After making one lap around the house, he counted 3 - a front door, side door, and second story balcony with a ladder beside it.

Draco straightened his back, rolling his neck and letting out a deep, soft breath that turned visible the moment it left his lips. He was used to running on no sleep, but being woken up from night when sleep finally grasped him tightly, he had been more than irritable. Playing with the small thread on his cloak in an attempt to shield his gaze from the rising sun, he hadn't expected to hear anything, just the same birds tweeting and the creek flowing from some distance away. But then, he did.

It was a small noise, just a leaf crunching under the step of someone's boot, but it had brought Draco's consciousness to his surroundings and immediately sharpened his focus. He made his steps light as he turned back the way he had come and towards the back of the house. He found his mind to be blank, instead of thoughts filling the void, he found high alerts sounding off, knowing if he was caught, he'd be forced to kill on site.

Contrary to popular belief, Draco did not want to kill anyone this early in the morning - especially a child.

Yet, of course, his luck - and not to mention his ever so pure soul - were tested.

He whipped around to find a small boy standing mere feet away from him with a bored look upon his face. His dusty brown hair flew in the wind that surrounded them, but donned only in a simple muggle shirt and pants, he seemed not to mind the chill that was getting to Draco.

Draco blinked twice before looking around once and casting a notice me not charm on them and holstering his wand once again. Still the boy didn't talk, he only watched Draco with some sort of bored curiosity, maintaining eye contact much longer than Draco had expected a child to handle. He took a deep breath and bent his left leg, letting his knee hit the ground before he spoke.

"What are you doing out here?" Draco whispered, searching his face for any clue on the situation. He waited but nothing came, the boy only staring at him more intently. Draco would have guessed he was four years old, if that.