Draco led the sad trio across the land. It was all desert, though a few mountains could be seen in the distance. The slightest wind made swirls of dust lift off the ground, causing the group to erupt into violent coughing several times. They didn�t seem to be getting anywhere, but who could tell out in the middle of nowhere?
Draco looked up. They were now by a huge mountain. He stood pondering for a minute before finally deciding that it was too steep to climb. Instead, he continued along the side, making sure the others were still behind him. He might be a Slytherin, but he followed orders, even if the person who had given them was already dead.
Suddenly, the sky filled with lightning and a clap of thunder rang loud and clear. Draco panicked and threw himself to the ground, covering his head.
�Twitchy little ferret, aren�t you Malfoy?� Finnegan asked, kneeling next to Draco and smirking at him.
Draco cursed under his breath and stood back up, looking at the sky. There was no rain, or even a trace of storm clouds. It was almost as if the lightning hadn�t even happened.
A low rumbling came from the mountain above them, growing steadily louder. Draco looked up to see several large boulders rolling down, heading straight for them. They ran out of the way, coming to the edge of a cliff. Draco tried to stop, but Finnegan and Thomas ran into him and they all tumbled down to the bottom.
Draco stood up, groaning. �Nice one Finnegan!� he shouted sarcastically. �Maybe if you�d been the Skipper, we�d be dead by now and we wouldn�t have to be here at all.�
�I�m prepared to die,� Finnegan said hoarsely, clutching his chest.
�Well aren�t we morbid,� Draco said, turning to Thomas. �Water check.�
Thomas opened his pack and pulled out a water canister. �Eight ounces,� he muttered. Draco reached to take the water, thought better of it, and shook his head at Thomas. Finnegan did the same, so Thomas put the water back.
�Okay then, let�s get moving,� Draco said, standing up. He noticed that Finnegan took a long time getting up and waited for him. There was something he�d wanted to ask him.
�What do you want?� Finnegan said coldly, brushing sand off his legs.
�Clue me in,� Draco said as they started walking toward where Thomas was heading, �why�d you sign up for this trip?� Not giving Finnegan time to answer, he continued. �Never mind, I�ll clue you in. You were the golden boy of the class of 1998. When they nominated you for the trip, you couldn�t turn it down.�
�Malfoy, I�m telling you, get off my back,� Finnegan said in a warning tone, but Draco persisted.
�And the glory, let�s not forget that,� Draco said, enjoying mocking Finnegan. �Somewhere out there there�s a life-size bronze statue of you. Of course, by now, it�s probably green, the nameplate unreadable, but let it never be said that we forget our heroes.�
�Okay, you read me pretty well,� Finnegan admitted, glaring at Draco. �So why can�t I read you.�
�Don�t waste your breath trying,� Draco said, smoothing down his hair importantly.
�Thomas up there, he�s easy enough to read. He�d walk naked into a dragon pen if he thought he could learn something no other man knew. But you, you�re no seeker. You�re negative.�
�And I�m not prepared to die,� Draco shot back.
�I�d like to know why not,� Finnegan said. �You hated life and all of the people on earth, Muggle and Wizard. So what�d you do? You ran out.�
�No, it�s not like that,� Draco argued. He wanted to explain, but Finnegan could never understand.
�Guys, up here!� Thomas yelled from the top of a short hill, saving Draco from having to say anymore. He ran up to join Thomas, who was staring down at a small plant poking up out of the sand.
�Life,� Thomas said simply as Finnegan came up next to Draco, gasping for breath after his run up the hill. The three bent down and dug up the plant. Draco took it in his hands and examined it.
�Where there�s one,� he said, �there�s another and another. Let�s go find �em.�
They spread out a bit and start heading in the direction they had been. Draco spotted several plants along the way, becoming more numerous with every step he took.
�Ahhhhhhh!� Finnegan�s screams filled the air. Draco ran over to where he stood, staring up in absolute horror at the top of the next hill. Some figures were spaced out along the land.
�Relax, their not alive,� Draco said, starting up the hill. �They look like scarecrows. I wonder what they�re for.�
�I don�t really care,� Finnegan said, looking embarrassed. He started up the hill after Draco, closely followed by Thomas.
Draco came out level with the figures and heard the sound of rushing water. �To hell with the scarecrows he said, speeding up to a jog towards the noise. The others hurried after him, but they weren�t in as good of shape as he was. He slid down the side of the mountain and kept running until he reached what appeared to be a waterfall with a small pond underneath it. A large jungle wasn�t far away, but the area around the lake was rocky.
The others finally made it and stood on either side of Draco with their mouths hanging open in shock. Finnegan came out of his shock first and said, �Well, I don�t know about the rest of you, but I�m in desperate need of a bath, so if you�ll excuse me.� He took off running, pulling off his shirt as he ran. When he got to the water, he took off everything else and jumped in.
�Idiot,� Draco muttered, �at least we have the dignity to�hey! Where are you going?�
Thomas had also taken off toward the pond in much the same way that Finnegan had. Draco shook his head in disgust. He�d always thought they were gay, but this pretty much confirmed it for him.
�Hey Malfoy, you gonna join us, or just gawk at us all day!� Finnegan shouted before starting to swim laps around the pond.
�Oh, what the hell?� Draco said, running toward the water too, pulling off his clothes along the way. He jumped in the water and immediately stopped. The water was freezing! Draco waded a bit, getting used to the temperature of the water. Then, he went over to the waterfall, putting head underneath it to wash his hair. He wished he could have some hair potions, but this would have to do for now.
�Hey, what�s that?� Thomas asked, pointed toward the shore. A hand was reaching out of the bushes, feeling around the ground. It finally grabbed a pair of pants that they�d left on the shore and threw it back into the jungle. Then, it reached forward again and grabbed the rest of the clothing and packs that the three had left on shore.
Draco, Finnegan, and Thomas swam to shore and hurried after the sounds of footsteps crashing through the forest. Draco suddenly became aware of strips of clothing that were left on trees. Then, when he came out into a small clearing, he saw all of their stuff piled up, the clothing ripped beyond recognition.
�Didn�t leave much, did they,� Draco said, picking up one of the bigger pieces of cloth and tying it around his waist. If he couldn�t have his normal cloths, he at least wanted to be covered up. The others picked through the scraps too until they found makeshift clothes for themselves. Then, the sorry looking group continued in the direction of the footsteps.
They came out at the edge of the jungle, on the edge of what looked like a cornfield and an orchard. Dozens of people were crowded around the trees and running through the corn, gathering food. One of the men tossed a strange piece of fruit at Draco. It had a dark green shell. When Draco broke it open, he could see a weird yellowish orange fruit inside.
�It looks edible,� Draco muttered, turning to Finnegan and Thomas. They had already gotten fruit too and were eating it greedily.
�They look relatively human, but I think their mute,� Draco said, looking out over the people. They were wearing what looked to be some kind of animal skin and were grunting at each other unintelligibly. �Well, let�s look at the bright side. If this is the best they�ve got around here, we�ll be running this planet.�
The other humans stopped their foraging and seemed to be looking at something past Draco, Finnegan, and Thomas. A strange sound, almost like a battle cry, came from a distance. The humans started running in the other direction, into the cornfield.
Draco and the others turned to see what had scared them off. What must have been at least a hundred creatures of some kind were standing at the top of a hill.
�What the�� Finnegan muttered, finishing with a word that would�ve gotten him in trouble back at Hogwarts. Then, the strange battle cry rang out again and the creatures started down the hill, straight for the trio.
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Author's note: Ooh, cliffy! I love cliffys! Btb, cliffy is short for cliffhanger. Don't worry, I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. You don't think I'd leave my Drakie in mortal danger for long now do you? Of course, this isn't really my Drakie, 'cause my Drakie is nicer than this one. Ok, I'm gonna stop now 'cause ya'll are prolly getting tired of hearing the name "Drakie."
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