Once Upon A Time (A Drarry FanFiction Collection)

Chapter Three

   He still held Harry in a firm embrace at the shoulder, anchoring him so the ocean's current would not spirit him away. "But how?" Harry asked. "How is such a thing possible?"

The young man (for he was more man than fish Harry felt) caught his lower lip between his teeth and worried it for a moment. "It is forbidden to speak of it to Uplanders," he said, as if confessing. "But I sensed your kind heart long before you were claimed by the waves, a bright light making mere shadows of the scoundrels you were ensconced with. I wanted to give you a chance, to let you return to the Air Above rather than watch that light go out."

Harry blinked, a strange sensation indeed against the water. "I am...a bright light?" he repeated like a dim-witted child, but he cared little upon seeing the blush that coloured the merman's cheek.

Harry had been taught to feel stirrings for another man was the Devil's work, and to feel such a way for a creature not even fully man was surely worse, but he had never felt so alive, so drawn to another as he did in that moment. The warm smile that met him led him to hope he was not alone in his longing.

"You are," assured the man. "I can see it as plain as my own hand before my eyes. I will accept any punishment if I can know you have not drowned like your kin."

"They are not my kin," said Harry quickly, then realised the implications of his words. "But I am sorry if they have drawn their last. I would not wish death upon anyone."

The merman squeezed Harry's arms. "And this is why you were saved. Such goodness should not be squandered."

Harry regarded his saviour, utterly convinced he was unworthy of such praise, but allowing himself a moment, just a moment to bask in it. "How?" he asked again, changing the subject. "How did you see my brightness, and how am I now still alive?"

"Simply put?" the man replied. "Magic. Certain of my people are gifted, and I have been well trained in the arts."

Harry's head swam. A beautiful, magical being had deemed his life worthy of saving. Occurrences like that just didn't happen to street waifs such as he. "Magic," he mused, feeling the smile creep upon his face. "Aye, I have heard tales, but I never really believed..." Suddenly the world didn't seem like such a dismal place to him. All his heartache and sorrows appeared to pale in this newfound knowledge. Magic was real, he had seen it with his own two eyes.

"You have a true gift indeed," Harry told the young man. "What shall I call you my new friend?"

He looked sad all of a sudden, and Harry was fearful as to why. "My name is Draco," he began, but Harry could not stop himself from interrupting.

"Like the stars!" he cried happily. He had never met anyone named for a constellation before, despite knowing almost all the formations there were to be known. For Harry, the stars let him dream of freedom, true freedom, no longer at the mercy of another's cruel whim. He had drifted through the stars long before he had ever drifted on the sea.

Draco's melancholy turned to joy. "You know of my namesake?" he asked, incredulous. "You have seen it in the Air Above?"

Harry nodded, bursting with pride to have impressed his rescuer even just a little. "A great dragon spanning it's wings across the night."

Draco's silver eyes danced, just like the fire in Harry's belly. He had never felt this way with anyone in his short life, he pondered he could live his whole life basking in the warmth of Draco's smile.

"And you?" asked the merman Draco eagerly. "How shall I know you by?"

Harry deflated as he confessed his mundane name. "It is far less wonderful than yours."

But Draco shook his head. "There are no Harry's amongst my kind. I declare you to be exotic and rare, dear Harry."

Harry felt he could already count the number of compliments Draco had bestowed on him in the past few minutes as more than he had received in his entire life from his fellow humans. He summoned his boldness and rose his hand to touch Draco's arm, mirroring the grip he still had on Harry.

"Will the spell last?" he asked, wanting to determine the length of time they had. But to his dismay, the sadness returned to Draco's face.

"The Breath of Life will only remain a little longer, giving you chance to rise once more to the Air Above," he explained. "And...I will have to take your memories of our meeting, otherwise I am certain the elders will take sterner measures, unmaking the good deed I have done today."

Harry couldn't help the horror that swelled in him. He did not want to die, but he did not want to lose this joyous moment either. "Is there no other way?" he pleaded.

Draco shook his head. "Not if you wish to remain human."