Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Starflower-Gem's

Harry Potter and the Fairy Curse

III

Morning came with a bang like it always did, only this time the loud pounding against the cupboard door seemed to split Harry's head I two.

Moaning, Harry curled further into himself clutching his aching head. The movement dislodged something that had somehow gotten stuck in Harry's hair without his knowing. It didn't come as a surprise to the young man, it certainly wasn't the first time this had happened.

Ignoring the shrill voice of his aunt ranting on the other side of the door Harry rolled over and opened one bleary eye. It didn't do much good, though, since Harry was as blind as a bat without his glasses. All he could make out was a vague shape laying on the small amount of empty space on the cot that Harry was not taking up.

Letting out a gusty breath Harry groped blindly for his missing spectacles. When the thin wire frames met Harry's searching fingers he easily smashed them back on his nose.

The object laying on Harry's bed was one he'd never thought he'd see again, and it was more amazing then Harry had first suspected. The doll was not, as he had first thought, a girl; the small man was beautiful, with delicate aristocratic features and silver-blond hair that looked to be made of spider silk.

Harry didn't dare breath as he reached out to trail one of his fingers over the feather soft hair. Amazing.

The doll's eyes were closed, and he looked almost like he was sleeping. He also had wings that Harry had not noticed when the old man had first given Harry the toy.

They were beautiful, just as breathtaking as the rest of him. The wings were pale, the membranes where almost blue in color and they had a sprinkling of silver dust coating each wing.

The doll's looks were not the only amazing thing about him. Harry was baffled about how the doll had gotten into his cupboard during the night. He knew he couldn't have retrieved the toy by himself because Aunt Petunia always locked the door behind him, and only Vernon held the key.

Another puzzle was the position the doll was in. The night before Harry was sure the doll had been standing perfectly straight, but now he was curled onto his side apparently asleep.

None of it made sense, but Harry was certain of one thing…Dudley would not be happy that his new plaything had disappeared.

Dudley was a mean bully, and he had never spared Harry an ounce of pain he could inflict. Dudley scared his cousin, always had, and now that the other boy was twice as big as Harry that fear had escalated. But that didn't mean Harry was a pushover. There was no way he was letting that overgrown pig have his new favorite possession.

He knew hiding the toy would get him in trouble, not only with Dudley, but with the boy's parents as well, but Harry couldn't find it in himself to care.

Kneeling on the cot Harry felt along the wall opposite the door. A few moments later and he pulled a panel loose. Carefully setting the plank of wood down Harry turned to his hidden trove. This was where he kept the few toys and books he'd been able to squirrel from his fat cousin.

The obese boy had never even known the toys where missing, but Harry didn't hold out hope that he would overlook the missing doll. Reverently rearranging his treasures Harry made room for his new companion.

Smiling down at the porcelain figure Harry gently lifted it and slid it onto the small hidden shelf. Caressing it one last time Harry reinstated the missing panel, taking great care to keep his only friends hidden.

He'd just settled back down with another groan of discomfort when the door was wrenched open and Harry was squinting into Uncle Vernon's well lit face.

His head was still killing him, he felt parched, and the world seemed to be dancing in gay circles around him. He had no choice but to slip passed his uncle to begin his chores, he was sure he didn't want to face the consequences of shirking.

Swallowing dryly, Harry stumbled into the kitchen to start breakfast.

The sadistic sun beat down on Harry as he bent over his aunts prized begonia's. This was Harry's least favorite time of the day, once he was done with all the household chores he was shuffled outside to tend the yard-mow the lawn, rake the leaves, wash the sidewalk, polish the car, ad weed the garden.

Harry's work was interrupted when a sharp-toed boot slammed into his side, sending him gasping into the grass. His fever had only gotten worse as the day had progressed and this added pain was not welcome at all. Groaning Harry peaked one eye open to look at his attacker.

Dudley glowered at him his pudgy face taking on a red hue. "What did you do with my doll, Potter." He snarled.

"I didn't do anything with it, Dudley," Harry gasped, he thought he might have cracked a rib.

Dudley didn't like that answer and rewarded it with another kick in the ribs, "Don't lie to me Freak. Now where is it."

Harry could only shake his head, his eyes squeezed shut. This also seemed to be the wrong answer, "Mom!" Harry's cousin crowed, "Harry stole my new toy!"

Whimpering, Harry curled tighter, he was in for it now.

The slamming of the door testified of that, and the meaty fist clasped around Harry's neck only supported the fact.

Harry wasn't sure how long it was until he was shoved into his hole and the door locked behind him, but he was in too much pain to really care.

Despite his battered body, Harry was rather proud to say he had not given his secret treasure away. It would remain safely hidden, out of Dudley's destructive grasp. And that made the pain worth it.

Harry lay there for a long time, wishing sleep would claim him, but knowing the pain would keep it at bay. Pushing himself up on weary arms, Harry pried the panel loose. He was gasping for air as he carefully extracted his beautiful doll, and replaced the board.

Harry lay back down, pressing the doll to his chest and closing his eyes. This time sleep did come.

When the sun was set and all the humans within number 4 privet drive had slipped into Morpheus's waiting arms, the spell holding the fairy prisoner melted in the cool night air.

Even so, Draco found he still could not move. During the time he'd been incapacitated the beautiful boy he'd discovered hidden in the wall had decided to use him as a lifeline. The small young man found himself pressed intimately close to the human's thin chest…not that he minded, truly, but he did feel the embrace would have been infinitely better had they both been the same size.

Unfortunately, Draco knew he couldn't remain in the boy's arms for very long. He still needed to find away out of the human house and back to the Vale.

Detangling himself from the human proved more tricky than he'd originally thought; the boy simply did not want to relinquish his hold and curled around his prize like a limpet.

Draco's struggling must have disturbed the boy, his arm tightened around the fairy and he gave a jaw-cracking yawn., before sighing and settling down again.

Draco was surprised to find he'd been holding his breath, and released it with a self-amused chuckle.

Strangely enough this was what woke the boy.

Another yawn split the boy's face before he blinked his eyes open.; and when he did Draco found himself mesmerized . The boy had fey eyes!

Draco had never seen elf eyes on a human before, it suited the boy very nicely.

The two young men stared at each other for a long while, before the human shook his head in disbelief. "I must be seeing things." He mumbled as his eyes fixed on the prince.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Indeed, I do believe that is what eyes are for." He drawled, his amusement spiking as the boy flushed a delightful shade of red.

"Dolls aren't supposed to talk." the boy intoned, his large green eyes slightly glazed with fever.

"Indeed." Draco agreed.

"You're a doll." The boy informed him.

"Actually, I am a fey." Draco corrected him.

"Fey? Like a fairy?"

Draco sighed heavily. "I do believe that is the human equivalent. But we fey don't generally refer to ourselves by human terms."

"Uhuh." The boy said smartly, "I've never dreamed about fairies before."

Before the boy could so much as blink Draco was hovering in the air in front of the human's face, his tiny hands braced on the boy's nose, "What is your name, little human?"

The boy blinked at him before answering, "Harry."

Silver brows furrowed in distaste, what a strange name. The boy didn't look at all hairy to Draco, and the hair he did have intrigued the fey to no end. He had never before seen ink-black hair; it must have been a human trait.

"Well, Harry." He put an emphasis on the boy's name, rolling it on his tongue like fine nectar. "I'm certainly no dream."

The boy only smiled at him innocently, his fey eyes sparkling in mirth, "Of course you are, Fairies aren't real."

"Well, if this is a dream," He acquiesced, "then whose to say it belongs to you? This could very well be my dream and you are but a figment of my imagination."

The beautiful human frowned slightly, "I'm real." He said firmly, but Draco just smiled at him indulgently, patting his nose in sympathy.

"So you say."

"You're the dream, not me! I'm real." The boy didn't sound very sure of himself anymore, and the frown had only deepened.

"And how do you know that? If you are, indeed, a figment of my imagination, then it's possible my subconscious decided you needed to think you were a real person." The alarm that flashed through the boy's unusually wide eyes sent a part of guilt through the young prince, "Oh, hush now, little human, I was just teasing you. You are as real as I am."

"But you're not real." The boy insisted.

Draco sighed again, and leaned closer to the boy's face, "As I said, you're as real as I am. Therefore if I am not real, chances are that you aren't either."

The boy swallowed hard, "You're real." He agreed quickly.

Draco smiled, showing off his pearly fangs. "Now we're getting somewhere." Again he patted the boy's nose, before dropping onto the boy's knees. "That took longer then I anticipated," He murmured to himself, glancing up at the boy, "I'm afraid I cannot entertain you any longer, little human."

"How come?" The boy's head was cocked to one side like a curious kitten.

"I must return to the Vale tonight, I've been in this realm too long as it is." Draco told him solemnly.

"Can I help?"

Draco flashed him another fanged smile, "I would be forever grateful if you would."

Harry gave a tentative smile in return, "Alright, what do I need to do?" He carefully lifted Draco into one of his hands, and resituated himself on his cot.

"Well, I need to get outside." Nodding the dark haired human carefully pushed the cupboard door open, peaking through the crack before stepping into the shadowed hallway.

"The front door is always locked." Harry explained, as he carried Draco in the opposite direction Draco had tried to go the night before. "Aunt Petunia never bothers with the back door, though."

The hallway opened into a kitchen/dinning room, the wallpaper was a pale yellow that was illuminated by the moonlight shining through the huge windows. Harry swept through the room with the ease of familiarity, and slipped through the back door.

The backyard lawn was meticulously mown and the flowers lining the sides of the house were well taken care of. Draco could spot a weed or dry patch anywhere. He really shouldn't have been surprised, the human's house had been perfectly spotless as well.

Draco frowned at the yard, it just wasn't natural for anything to be that perfect. The human sank onto the cool grass at the base of the stairs and set Draco carefully onto the ground. "Well, um.. it was nice to meet you?" It wasn't a statement so much as a question.

Draco flitted up to the boy's face, a smirk on his lips. "It was my pleasure." He purred, tugging affectionately on a strand of the boy's dark hair.

The boy didn't smile though, just watched him with sad eyes as Draco flew towards the roses that lined the fence.

Draco stopped halfway there and glanced over his shoulder at the boy, the sorrowful expression on the boy's face had him pausing. A moment later and Draco was back at the boy's side, "Why the long face?" He inquired.

The human tried a shaky smile, "I...y-you are the first friend I've ever had." He admitted, his eyes seeking the ground in embracement.

Draco's eyebrows shot into his hairline, "We just met!"

The boy shrugged, "Maybe, but you were my first present.", and didn't that sound odd?

Caught off guard, Draco asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, an old man gave you to me last night while I was waiting for my family to get out of a party."

"An old man." Draco repeated slowly, and the human nodded. "You mean he didn't give me to The Pig?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head, "Dudley took you last night, and hid you in his room. He hasn't played with toys for years, and I don't think he's ever had a doll before."

Relief flooded Draco, he'd been wrong, the pig wasn't the person who would break the curse. Draco studied the brunet human for a long moment, taking in his small (for a human) frame, and sad fey eyes. "Would you like to come with me?" He asked at last.

The boy's bright eyes locked on him in seconds flat, "Really?" His voice was breathless, and he looked so hopeful.

Draco grinned up at him, "Sure. I for one would love to show you around my kingdom."

The human's exultant grin vanished, "But how? I'm so big."

Chuckling Draco grabbed one of the boy's fingers and tugged, encouraging him to stand again, "Nonsense, I'm just small. But, I must admit you'll never be able to fit in the Vale as you are."

Harry looked so distraught and Draco couldn't help but rub his hand over the boy's knuckles soothingly, "Hush now, the solution is simple. You just need to shrink a bit, that's all. Come along, this wont take but a minute."

Draco led the boy back onto the slightly porch, "Wait here." He instructed before whirling back to the lawn. He selected a spot directly in the center of the yard and landed lightly.

Surveying his surroundings Draco nodded to himself in satisfaction. He glanced at Harry to make sure he was watching, He was, and Draco focused on the task at hand.

Cupping his hands in front of him Draco closed his eyes and focused on his magic. Slowly a thick liquid filled his hands, much to Draco's satisfaction.

Opening his eyes again Draco glanced over his shoulder at the human before his attention shifted to his magic again.

Beating his wings steadily Draco rose into the air, then held his hands out on either side of himself. With a sharp flick of his wrists the silvery liquid separated into little beads that plummeted to the ground in a need little circle.

Draco scrutinized his handy work for a moment, then returned to the human's side. "There you go. All you have to do is stand in that fairy circle, and we won't have this pesky 'height' problem anymore."

Harry's awe filled eyes fixed on the fey prince, "That…was…."

"Magic?" Draco finished for him with a wicked grin, "That it is." When Harry just continued to stand there Draco gave his shoulder a small shove (not that it had any effect, really, the fey was five times smaller then the human). "Well, go on. We haven't got all night."

The human stumbled down the stairs in a daze, then he seemed to come to himself and straightened. Harry paused outside the milky circle of mushrooms, he seemed to gather whatever courage he possessed before gliding over the line.

Nothing happened for a long minute, then the shadows of the night clung to his form. The magic Draco had used to grow the fairy ring surged up over the boy as well, the two contrasting magic's swirling around the human. When the magic settled Draco raced forward, his sharp eyes scanning he grass for any signs of life.

Laying in the untouched circle of mushrooms were the clothes the boy had been wearing, only there was no Harry in them.

Draco's eyes danced with amusement as he took in the situation…if Harry's clothing was there…then what in the Vale was the boy wearing now?

"Harry?" He called, his eyes scanning the ground.

"I'm here!" The answer seemed to come from the bundle of clothes, but the boy was still nowhere to be found.

"Just where is here?" Drawled the Fey Prince.

A dark head popped out of the mass of cloth, "Here." The boy was grinning up at him.

Draco had thought Harry was beautiful as a human sized human, but as a Fey sized human he was simply breathtaking. "I can see that." Draco said, landing lightly on the boy's old clothes. He wasn't the only one staring, but he was the first to look away.

He eyed the boy critically again, "I'll be right back." He promised before zipping off again.

A short flight later and Draco was perched in a dark corner of the yard, staring down the ugly maw of a huge black widow spider.

Spider silk wasn't used very often in fey clothing mainly because of the huge effort it took to collect it. Spiders were very possessive creatures and jealously guarded their beautiful threads. Fey had tried to use thread from abandoned webs, but that silk was old and weak and had lost the luster new webs possessed.

Most Fey used flower petals, but Draco was no weaver and had no idea how to turn flower petals into cloth. He'd much rather fight a grumpy spider, then spend hours trying to imitate a delicate proceed he never even witnessed.

His palm was still damp with magic and he pulled a little of it into three new droplets. Draco tipped his hand, allowing the magic to slip from him, then, with a quick flick of his wrist, sent the dew towards the spider.

Spiders were naturally immune to magic, so he wasn't aiming at the spider.

Two of his drops shaped themselves into sharp little shards that set about disabling the web, the last bead of magic sunk into the ground.

As the web gave way the spider scuttled across the grass, heading towards Draco-malicious intent was clear in the many tiny eyes.

Draco easily danced away from the beasts deadly fangs, easily sidestepping the growing tangle of grass that shot towards the predator.

Satisfied with his work, the prince collected his prize and trekked back to his quest.

The boy was still huddled in his huge clothes and Draco could make up faint shivering from the small form.

Sighing Draco dropped to the ground and began the lengthy process of sewing the silver threads into something suitable for his little human to wear.

The thin silk soaked up the magic Draco poured into the job, using it to melt into a single swatch of cloth. Draco then used a shard of his magic to cut it into something the boy could work with.

"I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do for now," He said, handing the garment to Harry. "We'll have a Weaver go over it when we arrive at the Vale."

Harry awarded him with a tiny smile, taking the shiny offering. The boy didn't move much as he tied his new clothes into a sarong at his hips.

Draco raked his eyes over the boy from top to bottom, his eyes lingering on the boy's pale chest and strong legs. Oh yes, this would do nicely.

Grinning wickedly, his small fangs flashing in the moonlight, Draco held out his hand and waited.

The human eyed him strangely, his wide fee eyes flicking between Draco's wicked smile and his mischievously dancing eyes. Dubiously, Harry placed his hand in the fee's and Draco tugged him forward, plastering the other boy against him, relishing the small gasp of surprise issuing from delightfully pink lips.

"Hold on tight, little human." He whispered close to his ear, but he didn't give the boy much of a warning because in the next moment they were airborne.

Harry squeaked and wrapped himself around the taller boy, clinging to him desperately.

Draco's grin widened, and he clutched the boy tighter as well, dipping them under a low hanging branch, then quickly reversing their direction and soaring skywards.

They scaled the fence easily and Draco guided them through the maze of ugly human buildings into the farmlands. From there they darted into the forest, dodging trees and swooping birds.

Draco finally settled them at the base of a huge oak tree with a natural hollow in it's trunk.

"You can look now." He purred into the boy's ear, but he didn't loosen his grip any. Neither did the human.

Harry refused to unwind his legs from Draco's waste, or remove his face from the fee's neck for almost five minutes.

When Harry's stomached stopped spinning and his heart quit doing flips Harry peaked out.

The world wasn't moving anymore, and Draco's wings had stopped fluttering. He was safe.

Draco allowed the boy to pull away, setting him back on his feet and stepping back.

Draco grinned at him for a moment before turning on his heel and approaching the grandfather Oak. Reaching into his tunic Draco pulled out a long black key.

Draco slid his other hand along the shadows, quickly locating the grove that served as a keyhole.

Once unlocked Draco leapt back to his guests side and took his hand. Harry yelped as he was tugged into the air, when they landed he stumbled into the prince's side. Draco caught him easily, "Now this is going to feel a little strange and it is a bit cold." He warned.

The human took a deep breath, following Draco into the shadowy hallow.

Harry quivered at the pins and needles feeling that gripped his limbs, and the inquisitive nudge of…something…at his mind had him pushing closer to the fae.

Draco squeezed the boy's hand reassuringly and pulled him the last feet into his realm.

They were still inside the hollow of a tree, but the air was warmer and carried the sweet smell of honey and sweet spices.

It was dark outside, but this night was more thick, the darkness almost black and it cloaked everything. Draco suspected the human wasn't able to see much of anything, but that wouldn't be a problem for long. Dawn was fast approaching and the spell was already making him stiff.

Draco pulled the human towards a small circle of trees, seeing a small burrow in the ground under an elderberry bush.

The hole was abandoned, he discovered upon closer inspection, and would do nicely for the night.

"Morning is almost upon us, little human. You should get some rest before tomorrow night. Don't stray to far from me, this realm can be very dangerous and I wouldn't be able to come of your aid if you found trouble."

Harry quietly agreed to his stipulations, and followed him into the den. "If you get hungry," Draco continued, "The elderberries above us are ripe."

"Alright." Harry whispered. Draco nodded, settling down against a wall. The light of the sun flooded the cave and Draco's curse descended.

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