-II-

"Are you okay?" Harry asked Severus when he met him on his way down to lunch.

"I should ask this question, not you!" Severus stated and stopped.

"I wasn't the one racing out of the camp as if the devil himself was behind me," Harry said.

"And I wasn't the one who had a nightmare last night," Severus said grumpily.

Harry paled and looked down.

"I'm sorry. It shouldn't have come out like that. What do you think about going for a bath to the river with Draco and I tomorrow? I can show you where you can get the stones for the sweat lodge and then we can go swimming."

"That would be great!" Harry said, excited. It would be great to spend some time with Severus again.

"Then it is settled. We just have to ask Draco if he wants to join us," Severus said relieved that Harry's mood had lightened.

"Where are we going?" Draco asked, grinning behind them.

"Swimming," Harry replied, excited.

"Great!" Finally they would do something together. Just the three of them.

-II-

For the first time Draco felt really light-hearted and happy. He didn't care that he was almost naked, only in his boxers.

Harry laughed wildly while splashing water at Draco. When he was tackled from behind by Severus, he yelped surprised. "That's unfair. Two against one!"

Severus had his best time with the boys since they spent that awful time in the dungeons. The laughs of Draco and Harry were like music to his ears and his own laughs were lifting more of that invisible weight on his chest. Diving down with Harry still tightly hugged, he held his breath. He made sure to let Harry go as soon as they went under water, to not let him panic.

Harry felt safe with Severus, so he didn't panic when he felt water all around him and was still in Severus' grip.

What a sight they must have been. Three scarred men playing around wildly like little children. On Draco's pale skin the scars stood out very clearly. His whole upper body was covered with light red and pink scars from the knives and whips of the Death Eaters. At the moment he didn't think about them. He knew that Severus and Harry didn't care about the scars.

Severus' scars on his upper body were almost all a very pale pink and some were even almost white. Only the wounds on his arms were still red. He had forgotten about them at the moment as well. His boys were so happy and joyful that he just enjoyed the frisky mood. All the worries from the last days were forgotten and his worries about Dumbledore's visit tomorrow were as well.

Harry was very relieved that all the tension was gone between them. It was a long time ago that they could be like this. Right after Voldemort's defeat they had some of these moments, but after the torture in the dungeons it was only comfort or tension between them, not fun and happiness. It was a welcome change. Harry's scars were not so prominent as Draco's, but his chest and especially his back were covered with whip marks and cut scars.

Severus was tackled down by both boys when he tried to leave the river. 'No!' and 'Not already!' were the pleas that reached Severus' ears.

Severus caught each of them under one of his arms and carried the squealing boys into deeper water. After taking a deep breath, he dived down with both boys still under his arms. As soon as he had let go of the boys, he quickly pushed himself in the direction of the shore while he still was under water. He broke through the surface when he was close to the sandy shore. "Five minutes, boys. Then you will come out as well!"

Groaning came from behind him, and Severus smirked. The protest last only seconds, then Draco and Harry started to squeal again and splash water around. Severus meanwhile dried himself and laid down on his big towel in the sun.

When Severus called for them to come out, they tried to protest and convince Severus to give them more time. "No way. You two will have a hard day tomorrow. Come out before you catch a cold."

Grumpily, they came out of the river and dried themselves. Harry shook his head and splashed water over the already nicely dry and warm Severus.

"Hey!" Severus protested.

Harry hid his grin in his towel.

Draco waved his towel especially close to Severus, which caused sand to fly all over him.

"Wait, you cheeky monkey," Severus said and grabbed Draco to pull him down. "Now you will see what happens to cheeky brats." That was when the tickling started. Draco giggled and gasped for air.

How come Severus still knows all my ticklish spots? Draco thought while he tried to get enough oxygen in his lungs. "Help, Harry!"

Harry tried to attack Severus from the side, but was quickly grabbed as well and place beside Draco over his lap. Now he was tickling both boys who couldn't wiggle out of his gasp.

"So, who is the best?" Severus asked.

"You! Please stop!" both boys cried out between giggles.

Severus let himself sink backwards on his towel again and closed his eyes.

When Draco and Harry had get their breathings under control again they laid down with their heads on Severus' chest and stomach.

"Fantastic. What kind of sunburn will I get by this?" Severus teased.

"No sunburn at all. White Cloud has covered us all head to toe with a heavy sun blocker, Severus," Draco countered.

"Hmpf," was Severus' answer.

"Tell us about tomorrow, Severus," Harry demanded.

"I wanted to relax. Can't you two just shut up and relax?" Severus said, but he didn't sound annoyed.

Draco turned around and looked at Severus. "Come on, you had to do this ceremony as well when you were here, right?"

"Yes, I did, and I wasn't so lucky to have someone at my side while I had to spend the whole morning getting stones from the river. You two are really lucky."

"What do we have to do?" Harry asked, interested, and turned around as well.

"You will get up very early and go to the river to get the big stones I showed you before we came here. Don't worry, Maya knows the way. You will have a wheelbarrow and as you are three you can split the work. You will get a lunch packet with you because you will need more than just the morning to get the stones back to the camp. Then you will eat, and we will help you to build your sweat lodge. That will keep you occupied until the evening. When it gets dark, we will start the sweat lodge ceremony," Severus explained.

"So we don't have to build the lodge by ourselves?" Draco asked, relieved.

Severus chuckled. "We will only explain. The main work will be done by you two."

"Fantastic, we have to carry heavy stones over thousands of miles, and then we have to work the rest of the day on the lodges," Draco said grumpily.

"If you had to carry the stones thousand of miles, we wouldn't be able to have the ceremony tomorrow evening. Stop whining!" Severus scolded.

Draco sighed and threw himself on Severus' chest. Harry mimicked him a second later.

"Start drooling on me, and you will regret it," Severus said in a mocking tone.

"Yeah, and that's why you let Draco drool all over you on the plane and didn't even try to wake him," Harry chuckled.

"I just wanted my peace," Severus replied.

"And you want your peace now, so we don't have anything to worry about, Harry!" Draco said cheekily.

"Do I have to give you two a reminder of who is the one with the most power here?" Severus threatened and tickled both boys again.

"No!"

"Stop!"

"Please!"

"Have mercy!"

"Can we go in again?" Harry pleaded when he had gathered enough air.

"Wait twenty minutes, then you can go swim again before we head back," Severus explained. "Now rest!"

Groaning, both boys obeyed, and Severus grinned, satisfied, when his two boys fell asleep a few minutes later.

///

"We have a surprise for you two," Crying Horse said and pointed at Brian and Ken while they sat together at supper.

"What?" both boys exclaimed, excited.

"We will go hunting," Crying Horse said. "Black Hawk and I will take you with us for the first time tomorrow, and Aiden can join us as he already has proven to be a hunter."

Aiden pushed his chest out proudly. "Sure I will join you!"

"Good. We will start at five. So be ready!" Black Hawk said. "What weapon do you want to use?"

"A spear!" Brian said. "I will come back with a bear!"

Black Hawk chuckled. "More like a rabbit, Brian. If you want to hunt a bird or a doe you should choose the bow."

"I will take the bow, then. I want to have a turkey. We will eat them, right?" Ken asked, excited.

"Of course. You will hunt, prepare and eat it. If you want, you can share with the rest of the family, but it is up to you," Black Hawk explained.

"Everyone can eat my turkey," Ken said proudly.

"First you need to hunt one," Light Arrow said.

"I want to hunt something dangerous. Why can't I hunt a bear or a big stag?" Brian asked.

"Because hunting isn't a sport for fun. We don't kill because we like it. We will show you how to use everything of your prey. You will praise its soul for giving his life for you to use his meat. You will take the hunt respectful or we will leave you here," Black Hawk said sternly.

"I will take it seriously," Brian replied, ashamed.

Aiden shook his head disapprovingly. "Maybe he isn't ready to go hunting right now!"

Brian glared at him. "You are no counselor here. Stop thinking you are better than we are."

"I've been here longer than you all! I know what it means to hunt, and I can take it seriously and respect the lifes we take. You instead just make jokes about it and want to kill for fun!" Aiden countered.

"You don't know a shit about me!" Brian said and stood up.

Aiden jumped up as well, but before it could come to a fight, Light Arrow thundered, "Stop this! Both of you. You will all go hunting tomorrow, and you can prove that you can be reliable Brian. Don't disappoint me!"

"I won't!" Brian said determined.

"Good and now sit down and finish your meal. Both of you!" Light Arrow instructed and both boys oboeyed. He shook his head. "You should enjoy the last days of the hoilday. The school will start for most of you in a week."

///

"But it is only seven!" Harry protested.

"You need to get up at six tomorrow," Light Arrow explained.

"Six?" Harry and Draco asked shocked.

Light Arrow chuckled. "Six. You will have breakfast and then you will go to the river to retrieve the stones. You will need two hours to reach the river, and if you are fast, you will spend an hour to gather the stones. The way back will take you much more time because of the heavy laden wheelbarrow. I would guess between three or four hours. The rest of the day you will need to gather the twigs for the lodge skeleton and for building it. So you will need all your rest. Off with you into your beds!"

Harry groaned. Over all his worries about the next day, he even forgot about his last bad experience in his room. Only when he had laid down in his bed, the memories came back and he hugged Cat closer. Karim was back in his room, and as if he sensed Harry's mood, he jumped up on the bed and curled up close to Harry. The soothing purring from the alive and the stuffed cat calmed Harry down. Soon he fell asleep.

///

Draco lay awake for hours when White Cloud came into his room with a hot chocolate. "So worried about tomorrow?"

Draco shrugged. He sat up and took the cup thankfully. "I really try to sleep, but it doesn't work."

The old woman smiled kindly. "It never works that way, but a nice cup of hot chocolate helps." Especially when it was laced with a slight sleeping draught, she thought. "Come on, lay down again and let me sing a bit for you. Maybe you can fall asleep then." She tucked Draco in and smiled at Watje who curled herself on Draco's chest. Gently, she stroked Draco's hair and said, "Wait a minute, I'll be back soon!" She left the room, and only a minute later she came back with a three-foot-long stuffed snake. It was green with a beige belly and a red, forked tongue. The eyes of the snake were silver buttons. "Severus said you like snakes."

Draco's eyes lit up. Harry had told him about his and Severus' stuffed animals, and now he was getting one as well. "Can it make sound as well like Harry's?"

"Of course," White Cloud said, smiling. "Try it. Hold it close!"

She helped him to tuck the snake under his arm without disturbing Watje.

Draco grinned happily when he felt the snake hissing soothingly. It was a cool plushy. He couldn't wait to show it to Harry and Severus. He wanted to see their plushies as well. Draco was so happy, he didn't even notice that he fell asleep.

///

It's 6:30! Can you believe this?

Maya isn't ready, so I have time to write to you, Hermione.

This day will be so damn long and exhausting. We will need two hours to reach the river and back it will be even more. I'm glad Draco is with me. Maya can be very bossy and arrogant. I hope she will leave us alone. She didn't even told us about her Solo. I really would like to know what happened while she was out there with Rose.

I'm curious how the Sweat Lodge will be this evening. It sounds a bit scary. They all say it is very hot in there, but Severus said we will get used to it.

It's our welcome ceremony, Severus explained. I'm a bit scared how Draco will take it. I think he hasn't even realized that he will be in a very small and dark room with a lot of sweating men. Do you think he will make it?

Oh, Light Arrow is calling. I have to go. Keep your fingers crossed for me, Hermione. I hope I won't die of a heatstroke before I come back here.

Love,

Harry

Harry hid the messenger under his pillow, grabbed his jacket and ran down the stairs.

"Here are your lunch bags," White Cloud said and gave a big bag of all kind of food to each of the three teenagers. "Are you all covered in sun cream?"

"Yes, Severus has made sure of that," Harry mumbled.

"Maya?" White Cloud asked.

"I'm tanned enough, White Cloud. I'm not one of these greenhorns," Maya said disparagingly.

Harry pulled a face, and Draco even stepped backwards.

"Maya, we expect of you to be the responsible one today. Behaving like you are right now isn't showing that you grew up at all!" Light Arrow said disapprovingly.

Maya blushed. "I'm sorry. I just hoped I could go on my own. They will just disturb me. It was meant to be another way to think about what happened and what will come. I can't do this when they are joking around or are whining."

"We can go on ourselves. We don't need you," Harry spat angrily. Who does that stupid arrogant girl think she is?

"Of course you need her. Stop behaving childish!" Light Arrow scolded Harry. Looking at Maya again, he said, "If you want to use the way to the river to reflect, just go a few feet in front of Draco and Harry. That is no problem as long as they can see were you go."

"Can I have my own wheelbarrow?" Maya asked.

Harry disliked her more and more with each word she said.

Light Arrow thought shortly. That would cause them to be even slower. Draco was still very weak, and Harry wasn't in good condition, either. "If you insist."

"Yes, we have two different sweat lodges-" Maya said, but was interrupted by Harry.

"Thank Merlin," Harry muttered loud enough for all to hear. Light Arrow laid a warning hand on his neck, and Harry looked down.

"Like I said before I was interrupted-" She glared at Harry. "-we have two different sweat lodges, so we should bring to different sets of stones."

"Good, you can have another wheelbarrow. I will tell Red Horse to fetch one for you. Now you will apply the sun cream or you won't go at all."

Maya stormed with her head high up the stairs to do what she was told.

"Hold your tempers. She is the one with more experience. Sometimes you have to swallow some anger and pride down in favor to get help. Like it or not, without her you have no chance," Light Arrow said. With a last squeeze at the back of Harry's neck, he left the house to look for Red Horse.