The Healer- A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 29

Many steps had to be taken for us to return covertly to the castle. After waking at the crack of dawn, I dressed in my school robes that Draco said had been cleaned and pressed by House Elves. He provided me with a heavy black cloak and gloves from his family's wardrobe that almost matched his, but were not quite as expensive-looking. My black shoes shined like his, and now I even smelled like him, too.

Draco and I took a car to the train station, getting off at Hogsmeade- and finally, once we made it through a closed, quiet Hogsmeade undetected, a boat was going to take us across the Black Lake. I was certain that this was the way Draco had taken me from the castle on Saturday. And I was so tired by the time we reached the sandy bank of Hogsmeade that I almost wished I were unconscious again.

"How did you take me from the castle by yourself?" I asked as I followed Draco to a thickened area of trees around the lake shore of Hogsmeade. My feet slid every now and then due to the wetness of the melted snow on the dirt. "I was unconscious through it all, and I can't imagine you'd carry me all this way."

Draco began removing purposely placed tree branches from a mound that I assumed concealed the boat he spoke of. "The Consciousness Thinner allows the person to stand and walk on their own. I only had to guide you. But-" his voice tightened into a sort of jest, "You were so clumsy, you got mud all over your robes. That's why I changed your clothes."

I peeked over his shoulder, and then looked back at the increasing sounds of the town of Hogsmeade. It was early morning, and the shops were just beginning to open.

"T-this boat," I began, still skeptical, even though we had made it this far, "What if someone sees us from the castle?"

Draco used his wand to cast a digging spell to remove the mounds of snow. I offered to help, but he lifted a hand to signify that he could handle it himself. "This isn't an ordinary little dingy like the kind they use to get the first years across. This boat is enchanted to look like a crocodile- so if anyone were to spot us, that is all they would see."

That was perfect, I realized. The Lake was so huge and filled with mysterious creatures that it was unlikely anyone would even notice a crocodile. And if they did, the eye would likely pass it off as a log.

My breath froze in my throat when Draco unearthed a bit of snow and I saw a reptilian eye looking back at me. I stood in frightened shock staring at what appeared to be the head of a living, breathing crocodile. I had seen them before, in zoos; and they had always fascinated me in a scary way. After most of its yellow, scaly body was free from the snow cover, I almost expected it to open its jaws and devour us both. But Draco was unfaltered by the sight of it. He pointed his wand at the creature and hissed, "Nazra".

Upon Draco's command, the reptile shook off the frost and began to crawl- placing one claw after another in a march towards the shore.

I was about to tell Draco that I was too afraid to mount that thing and ride it all the way across the lake when it transformed into a moderately sized boat the second its body took to the water. Draco placed one foot in the boat to keep it anchored and then extended a hand to help me in.

"Where are the oars?"

"Don't need them."

Draco eased my nerves by telling me that this boat was not in fact a crocodile but something in Arabic they called a bateel selek; a smaller boat made in the Middle East. I never expected him to know so much about boats, but it did serve to calm me a little- and ridded me of the fear that it would turn back into a crocodile halfway across the lake.

Being in the enchanted bateel reminded me of that dingy ride I took my first year. Of course, we were approaching Hogwarts from the back, and in the foggy mist of early morning instead of nighttime. But the feeling of wonder was there. Excitement and nervousness tingled in my fingertips, for I was coming to Hogwarts to start my real relationship with Draco. With him, this place was finally going to feel like a home to me.