Mute (Drarry) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 28

Hermione's bluebell flames rushed over the Devil's Snare, Draco almost fine as he only had his hands and ankles being pulled by the plant, but Harry was almost entirely covered with the plant, Hermione having made it over to the edge of the room, on a ledge so there was no Devil's Snare around her feet to tangle her up in.

"Harry, are you okay!?" Draco asked, rushing over to the small boy as fast as he could, casting Lumos himself trying to help pull the plant off the smaller, paling boy.

Harry nodded, gulping and taking Draco's arm to cling onto, neither having their school bags with them, so Draco couldn't give him one of the plushies for comfort, but if he was going to be honest with himself, he guessed he was also thankful to have Harry close to him, this while thing was extremely creepy and he didn't want to be here alone.

"I guess we should go to the next room?" Hermione said, both her and Harry no longer seeming like they were under the same spell they were being affected by, but none of them knew how to go back now. The Cerberus was awake and angry, they could hear its growls and barks from down near the Devil's Snare. They didn't have a way back up even if the Cerberus wasn't an issue.

"I don't think there's anything else we can do." Draco said, taking the door knob with a hand he was fighting hard to not allow to shake.

He was shocked when he opened the door to see the room filled with silver and gold sparkling keys flitting around the room. One of the appeared to have a bent wing, flying significantly lower and slower than the others, so it was probably important, but nothing in the room looked harmful. There were two broomsticks in the centre of the room, they were hovering gently. They hadn't even had a flying lesson before, Draco was the only one who had been flying before, Harry and Hermione were raised by muggles, there was no way for them to know how to fly yet. But Harry was holding onto his arm tightly, and he didn't want to remove that support, it wasn't just Harry benefiting from it.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I have to fly to catch the key. You have to let go." Draco said, looking away from Harry, not wanting to see the hurt or start being very obedient.

Unlike what he was expecting, Harry neither looked hurt, nor did as he was told, he shook his head, letting go of Draco's arm and grabbing the broom himself. As soon as he held the broom, the keys no longer fluttered peacefully around their heads and started flying straight for Harry at a speed they didn't even realise they could fly at.

"Harry, you've never flown before." Draco said, worried now as Harry got onto the broom and kicked off, the keys following him as he flew quickly in a loop around the room.

Hermione watched, her eyes almost popping out of her head with fear as she watched Harry looping around trying to catch the slow one, Draco watching in fear too, his hear in his mouth. Harry finally grabbed the right key, flying low enough to the ground for him to be able to hop off, the broom stopping and hovering mid air again as soon as he hopped off, the keys going back to peacefully fluttering.

Harry was holding the key struggling to flutter gently, being careful to not cause any more harm to the key's wings. Hermione gaped at the small boy, standing with the small key in hand as he looked up at the other two, looking like he was seeking validation for what he had just done.

"Harry, are you okay?" Draco asked, rushing to the small boy in question. "How were you so good at flying, you've never flown before."

'I don't know, instinct?' Harry signed, getting the loop of the key around his little finger to stop it from flying away, and forcing him to have to do that again.

"You're amazing Harry." Draco said, pulling Harry into a tight hug, relieved he was okay, and also incredibly impressed by the skill Harry showed. He could well end up being the youngest professional Quidditch player since age laws came into place.

"Shouldn't we get moving?" Hermione asked tentatively. Truthfully, she didn't want to go to the next room, none of them really did, but they couldn't stay in this room forever, and it was probably better to move forwards than backwards, Harry had just caught the key after all, and they still didn't know what had caused Harry and Hermione to act strangely, surely moving on would answer that.

"I guess we have to." Draco agreed, looking at the door with apprehension, his grip on Harry's shoulders tightening. Harry wasn't going to get hurt again, he would do everything in his power to stop it.

Harry, with Draco holding his hand firmly, but supportively, walked over to the door, carefully so as to not cause it any pain or damage, Harry put the key in the door and turned it. The three had been holding their breaths as Harry slowly did this, hoping they had the right key, and afraid of what was going to be on the other side of the door. Surely things were supposed to get more difficult as they progressed, and they were far from looking forward to the trials yet to come.

The door clicked as it unlocked, opening to reveal the looming chess pieces facing away from them, great towers of flames erupting along the sides of the board, making Harry gulp.

"I'm guessing we have to win to get across." Draco said into the unsettling quiet, Harry pulling ever closer to him.

"And if we fail?" Hermione asked, her voice high pitched and quiet as they looked at the flames where the pieces went when they were defeated, it's merry flickering seeming to mock how dire their situation truly was, three first years who knew hardly any magic against challenges they didn't even know.