Captivate (Drarry)

Chapter 3

It was a long night, with his thoughts keeping him up instead of the pain. He was in some remote castle with strong defences, so he doubted the Order of the Phoenix members or Dobby would be able to either locate him or get him out. He was wandless, defenceless and alone.

From what Draco had said, Harry was pretty sure Draco was alone too. No family members or other Deatheaters. Some house elves doing the chores, under his command.

Harry couldn't just sit here and wait to be taken to Voldemort. He had to escape, somehow. He had to find a way. He had to do it himself.

...

After binding Harry's wrists, Draco opened the door. Harry moved slowly, like he had no energy, down the hallway, up the stairs, and then outside.

But as Draco turned to lock the door to the house, Harry broke away. He dashed across the lawn, right to the main gate. It was ten feet tall at least, made of wrought iron in elaborate swirls, and topped with sharp spires. He reached out with his bound hands, but before they came in contact with the metal, he felt a sharp buzz of pain. He instinctively lost his balance, falling on his ass, the breath knocked out of him.

He scrambled to his feet, pure adrenaline helping him, and ran along the imposing hedge. It was thick and full of thorns. Despite this, he tried to push through it, only to be zapped back again and again. Undaunted, he kept trying, running along the hedge and trying again and again. Searching for the tiniest gap in the defences. Eventually, panting and exhausted, he dropped back on the bench.

Draco was sitting on the other end, legs crossed, twirling his wand. Completely unconcerned. "Satisfied? I told you there was no way out." He pointed the wand at Harry's wrists, and the binding disappeared. "I don't think you need that when you are outside."

Harry wasn't going to argue with that. It felt good to have his hands free. "Fuck. So there is really no way to get out of here?"

"Nope. No way in, no way out," Draco sighed, sounding a bit like Dudley when he didn't get his way.

"So, you are stuck here too, just as bored as I am," Harry chuckled dryly, liking that. Misery loves company.

Draco scoffed. "Well, there are some amusements. Watching you just now running around like a headless chicken, for example."

Harry glanced back at the castle. "Surely in that huge building there must be some things to help while away the time."

"This is hardly our holiday getaway, Potter. Instead of a beach, we only have a small pond."

"I must have missed that in my desperate attempt at escape," Harry drawled back. Anything to keep Draco talking, to stay outside, and maybe get an way to escape. "Can you show me?"

With a bit of a shrug, Draco stood and ambled across the large lawn. Harry followed him, a bit surprised that he had tucked his wand away and seemed unconcerned about Harry attacking him. Was this trust, or did he just doubt Harry would even try?

Harry was a bit tired from running around so much, his head feeling a bit sore, and he hoped the headache wasn't going to come back. Perhaps he had overdone it, mostly recovered from the concussion, but not at his full strength yet.

The pond was in an area that sloped down gradually from the smooth lawn, and was surrounded by bushes and slim trees. Looking through the foliage, he could see the glint of water. As they stepped into the copse, he could see it was a fairly good size. The shadows from the surrounding greenery didn't cover the whole smooth surface of the water, and the spring sunshine allowed him to see the jade green tint of the water.

"Are there fish in there? Bloodsuckers?" Harry asked, a bit enchanted. The water looked inviting, and if it was a warmer day, he could see that it would be nice to wade in and splash around, float on his back.

Draco scoffed. "Maybe some minnows. Tiny fish. Nothing worth trying to catch."

The idea of Draco sitting on a log with Lucius, both holding fishing poles, made Harry chuckle. He turned his face away when Draco gave him a sharp look, not wanting to explain it, and spotted a nice flat rock. Without thinking too much, he stepped forward and grabbed it out of the muddy border of the pond.

"Going to throw that at me, Potter?" Draco sneered, standing straighter and pulling out his wand.

Harry scoffed. "Hardly. This is far too small to put a dent in that melon. But it's perfect for this." With that, he flicked his arm out towards the pond, and the rock skipped along the surface three times before disappearing into the water. "Hmmmm. Not too bad considering I haven't done that for years."

Draco looked puzzled. "Is this what muggles do since they can't do fun things, like play Quidditch?"

"Exactly. When you can't do magic, you have to learn how to use what's available to you. Skipping rocks is something most kids try to get good at. A totally useless skill," Harry explained, ignoring the slightly snide tone from Draco as he searched for another rock. He found a few, and sent them out along the water. Most skipped at least once or twice.

He was so busy in his activity, it was a bit of a surprise when there was a bit splash in the pond right before he was about to throw another stone. Glancing over at Draco, with muddy fingers and his cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment, it wasn't too hard to deduce who had thrown it.

Trying not to chuckle, Harry passed him the rock he was about to throw. "A good first try. But you need to look for flat stones about the size of your palm, like this. Find a few, and then I'll show you how to throw them."

They both got busy finding the right rocks, a bit of competitive spark already forming. Pretty soon, they both had a small pile. Harry showed Draco how to stand at a slight angle to the pond, and do a sidearm pitch with a flick of the wrist at the end. Many rocks disappeared with a big splash with no skipping, but Draco clenched his jaw and threw rock after rock. He watched Harry throwing his, modifying his technique, getting better.

Finally, one of Draco's rocks skipped twice. "Yes!" Harry exclaimed, feeling a bit proud of his student's success.

Draco returned his smile easily, obviously pleased at his accomplishment. But within a second, he pulled back the emotions, his face neutral again. "Yes, well, thank you for the high level amusement, Potter. I think it is time to head back inside."

Harry threw a final rock over the pond, pleased when it skipped a few times, satisfying his competitive nature. "Fine. Let's go."

"Hold out your hands," Draco said firmly, his wand out.

A bit surprised at the request, Harry obeyed, and felt the magical binding secure his wrists again. So Draco was OK with Harry being unbound outside, but not when moving through the castle? Why? What was he trying to keep Harry from doing? What was he afraid of?

They went back inside, Harry leading the way, and Draco behind him. He waved the wand at the door and it opened for them, magically locked, obviously.

Harry walked slowly, feigning weakness again, trying to look around as unobtrusively as he could. Draco occasionally prodded him with his wand to keep him moving along. He headed down the stairs back to the dungeon, and felt a sudden wave of dizziness. His bound hands scrambled to steady himself against the wall, but it was Draco's firm grip on his shoulder that stopped him from pitching down the stairs. Without a word, he moved to Harry's side, an arm slung along his lower back, the stairway luckily wide enough to allow them to continue that way to the bottom. Draco released him and stepped away, his eyes watchful for signs Harry was still unsteady.

Gathering himself, Harry clenched his teeth and walked unassisted to the cell. It was slow, but he managed it. He sunk down on to the bed, holding back a sigh of relief.

"I will bring down your dinner in about an hour," Draco said softly before leaving.

Harry was grateful that Draco had not commented on what had happened. Had just helped him as he needed it. Left Harry with as much pride as he could.

...

-A/N: Thanks for reading. This is a slow burn.