flower crowns | drarry

twenty five

twenty five
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thursday came in the blink of an eye, and before harry knew it, he was meeting draco at the back doors of hogwarts, once the moon had risen and the halls were empty.

they greeted each other with soft smiles and didn't waste any time heading outside. winter was on the horizon, colorful leaves blowing away in the cool wind, and the contrast of the crisp air against warm cheeks tinted than pink.

they traveled across the grounds silently, feeling no need to fill the quiet with meaningless chatter.

when they got to the edge of the forest, harry turned to draco, playfully smiling.

"are you still scared of the forbidden forest like in first year?"

draco scoffed. "of course not."

"you can hold my hand if you get frightened," he grinned, nudging the blond gently with his elbow.

"yes," he rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to smile. "i'm oh so lucky to have harry potter's big, strong shoulder to cry on."

harry laughed, finally leading him into the forest.

the forest was dark, and they talked in hushed whispers as they navigated through the underbrush. the bluish white glow emanating from their wands lit the path in front of them, and draco glanced at the map he'd brought with him every few minutes.

after a while, distant conversation cut through the quiet. as they got closer to the source, they recognized the soft, whimsical voice of luna lovegood, as well as they gruff, gravelly voice of hagrid. what worried them, however, was the pained cries of a creature in the background.

harry threw all caution to the wind and rushed towards it, draco following reluctantly. they reached a clearing, where they found luna and hagrid tending to an injured thestral.

hagrid was the first to notice them. "'arry! what er you doin' 'ere?" his eyes slid over to draco. "an' with young malfoy too?"

harry smiled sheepishly. "hi hagrid."

"hello." draco greeted him in a shy, polite tone, but his attention was quickly diverted to the animal lying on the ground.

luna smiled, gently becoming him over. "hello draco, hello harry."

the blond kneeled on the ground next to luna, hand outstretched. the thestral nuzzled into his fingers. "what happened to him?"

he looked like he'd been attacked, with broken ribs and multiple scratches, including one particularly long tear in his leathery wings.

luna's eyes softened. "i was out looking for moon frogs when i found him. poor wendlyn was attacked by a dark creature of some sort. oh, he is in so much pain. i didn't want to leave him at all, even to get hagrid, but i knew there was little i could do to help him. he's all battered up."

draco cooed softly, a furrow pinching his brows. "poor dear."

"you can see thestrals?" harry asked, walking closer to them and ignoring hagrid's questioning looks.