Orb of Destiny - Moment by Moment Book #6 (Harry Potter, Drarry)

Home is where the Heartbreak is

Three rough apparations in quick succession and several very close calls with spells later, the fugitives finally found themselves undercover. Having grown swiftly accustomed to the detection grid, they came out of the transportation at a run, and almost ran into a large tree. They were in woodland, and, with a quick look around, Harry decided that their near head-on would be a good place to go to ground.

"Up," he indicated, grabbing the nearest branch and beginning to haul himself into the tree.

"I haven't done this since I was nine," Draco growled as he followed swiftly behind.

However, as with the broom flying, Draco showed no lack of dexterity due to the length of time between excursions into trees. In a few seconds, the two young men were up in the mid branches of the tree. However, there was an issue, it was Autumn, and the foliage of the tree had reduced significantly, leaving them very little cover if anyone chose to look up. Harry began to regret his want for a rest. However, when he glanced at his lover to gauge his reaction, there was no such concern from him, in fact, he was eyeing the branches below with an attention that Harry couldn't fathom to begin with. It was only when Draco muttered unconsciously under his breath, "You don't mind?" that Harry began to realise that Draco was not just looking at the tree. He hadn't felt any shift in magic, and, in the darkness, Harry had not noticed the green tinge appear on Draco's skin, but he watched, once again in awe of Ilexa's natural magic, as Draco reached out and ran his hands over the bark.

"Thank you," he murmured, again like an afterthought, and Harry knew the majority of the meaning was in Draco's head, not his words.

Draco closed his eyes, his body flattened against the tree, almost moulded to it, and then Harry did feel the lurch of magic. In front of his eyes, Harry then saw nature accelerate through the Winter and out the other side. The remaining leaves fell from the branches immediately below them, and the dryness of winter bark peeled away. Then, in a heartbeat, the buds of Spring sprouted from the old wood, and a blanket of fresh, green leaves appeared between the fugitives and the ground. The area affected was just enough to hide the humans above it, and, grateful in his own way, Harry patted the tree and offered his thanks. Draco opened his eyes at the wrong moment, and the look of condescension he sent Harry made him feel like a fool, but he just shrugged: so he couldn't talk to trees, but that didn't mean he wasn't thankful. There was no time for comment, because the cracks of apparations announced their pursuers' arrivals, and the hiders crouched down close against the tree above their disguise.

Harry dared not peak round the small canopy, so he listened instead; he had heard twenty pops before their frequency made him lose count, so he guessed at around forty by the time the majority ended. That was good news for the diversion; it meant that they had gained a lot of attention already: they had the Death Eaters on alert. However, it was also daunting. Harry had no idea how large or small this wood was, or how long it was going to take for someone to make more than a cursory glance upwards. When footsteps crunched on leaf litter just below their tree, he held his breath.

"Dammit," a woman swore, "they can't have apparated away, we'd have detected it." 

"They must be here somewhere," a man added, his voice gruff and low and annoyed.

"Unless they found another way out," a second man joined in thinly.

"No!" the woman was adamant, and sounded scared as she said that, and she reinforced Harry's interpretation when she added, "We can't have lost them, the Master will have our hides."

"Round up your people, we'll make a structured search, and signal for another two patrols, they will not get away from us," the first male Enforcer sounded more practical than his companions.