Save The Date (A Drarry FanFiction)

Chapter Thirty

   "Oi!" a little voice cut through the hubbub, and Draco turned as he reached the door to see Brandon join Bones at his feet. He was weaving back and forth on his feet like he was on board a ship atop choppy waters, and in place of his small tankard he now brandished a human sized hip flask. "Just where do you think you're going?"

Draco huffed, pulling the door open and heading down the stairs which, this time, were mercifully lit. "We told you, to find my friend," he snapped impatiently. "So that's means getting out of here before those things out there spot us."

"But what about me gold?" Brandon hiccupped sulkily, keeping up with Draco's strides despite almost tripping over every step. "Me treasure, me reward? Don't think I've forgotten about that!"

Draco let out a rumbling noise of frustration. "Look, we'll sort that out later, alright?" he lied. But the leprechaun happily skipped ahead of him to reach the cellar floor fist, unperturbed.

"It's okay, I'll stick with you, would hate for you to forget any such thing." He grinned drunkenly, and swung off of the tap of the nearest of the many beer barrels lined up along the wall. "So where too now, what land?"

The door above them gave a violent shudder, and a fine rain of dust drifted down over their heads.

"Wherever's closest," Bones said urgently, and ran over to a trap door. "Quick, boy, get this open."

"So we're going down?" he checked as his did as the dog said. "Aren't we just guessing blindly here? Harry could be anywhere."

"Well we know he's not here," Bones growled. "Unless you've got any other bright ideas, we're better off seeing where the portal takes us, ideally away from the bloody HSP."

Draco wrapped his hands around the cold metal ring that would pull the heavy square of wood upwards, and winced as another thud came from above them. "Can't we control it in anyway?" he asked.

Brandon scampered over to where Draco's knee rested on the flagstone floor, and gave it a poke with the top of his hipflask. "Course you can," he chided. "You just need a bit a practice. Why don't you let me guide you down?"

Draco raised his gaze towards Bones, who in turn looked back at the leprechaun waggling his eyebrows provocatively. "Ah," said the dog. "I guess we can't get much more screwed than we already are. Go on then, quickly."

"Should we maybe," Draco said as he wrenched the trapdoor upwards. "Think about going down two levels at once, to throw them off?"

He'd suspected there were more than three levels after Bones and Tommy's reaction up in the pub, but he still wasn't prepared for the panicked "NO!" that both Bones and Brandon shot at him, their eyes going wide.

"No?" Draco repeated. "Why 'no'?"

"Look," Bones said gruffly, checking no one had as yet followed them down into the cellar. "You're right, there's a fourth level, but it's not like this, or the first or third either. You don't ever want to find yourself down there, okay?" He darted over to the edge of the black hole beyond the open trapdoor. "Just trust me on this, Your Highness."

However Draco felt a flair of frustration go through him. "But if we could lose them down there-"

"Oh deary me," Brandon sighed with a roll of his eyes, then pinched his nose and jumped feet first into the void. Draco's stomach lurched, but he guessed it was probably just like when they'd gone through the door in the basement.

"It ain't right down there," Bones said plainly. "If you ain't properly anchored you get lost, people never come back."

"So, have you seen it yourself?" Draco pressed.

Bones scoffed, and more bumps and cries came from over their heads. "Not likely Sunshine," he scoffed. "Worth more than my life to go poking about there. Now come on. We'll never lose them if you sit and gab all day!"

Draco wasn't wholly satisfied with his non-answer, but he was also right, they didn't want to get caught sitting around on the floor, so he swung his legs around into the darkness. "How do I follow Brandon?" he asked as Bones hopped into his lap.

Bones shook his head, dislodging the ridiculous miniature top hat, then jutted his chin forwards towards the portal. "Just picture the little bugger, and we'll take the same path as he did."

Draco wasn't sure he was entirely convinced, but the door to the cellar rattled alarmingly, and he decided to take his chances.

"Okay, here we go!" he announced, slipping off the edge of the trapdoor hole and plummeting into oblivion.