-II-

"Can I watch you wrestling?"

"Sure. You need to ask Light Arrow, I think." Harry didn't ask Draco if he wanted to join them in wrestling because he already knew the answer.

The red pickup drove into the yard and stopped. A hand waved out of the window at them to come over. When Harry and Draco reached the truck, they saw that Black Hawk and Severus were sitting inside. "We need to drive in the town to get you new running shoes, Harry. What about you, Draco? Want to join us?"

Draco shook his head vehemently; no way he would go there again! "No, I want to speak with Red Horse."

Severus was surprised that Draco was staying here alone without Harry or him around. Either he was too scared from the trip this morning, or he really was making lots of progress at the camp.

"Red Horse is in the large stable with Light Arrow. Rose and White Cloud are in the kitchen if you need help," Severus explained and stepped out of the truck to let Harry jump into the middle seat. A minute later, the red pickup rolled from the camp and Draco was left alone. Only then he realized how lonely he now was.

-II-

Draco stood in the middle of the yard and felt as if the emptiness was eating him up. He was stiff like a board and started to feel as if thousand little ants were running over his body. His lungs and his heart were clenched together by an invisible force. Tears ran down his cheeks, and he could only stare at the small red dot that was getting smaller and smaller until it vanished completely.

"What's wrong?" Brian asked when he and the other kids passed Draco on their way to the horses.

Draco shivered and didn't react to the question. He just stared at the horizon were a few seconds ago the small dot had disappeared.

"Draco?" Maya tried and laid a hand on the blond boy's shoulder.

That made Draco panic. He tried to turn away, but his legs were like glued to the ground, and he twisted them and fell. A cry of pain escaped him when he dislocated his ankle, but nevertheless he crawled away from the kids.

"Woah, calm down, Draco," Brian said and lifted his hands. "Ken, go and get Light Arrow. He is in the stable. Maya run into the kitchen and get White Cloud and Rose." Then he knelt down, but kept his distance to Draco. "Stop crawling away, Draco. Nobody is coming close to you. Your foot doesn't look good. You shouldn't put any pressure on it!"

Draco was in panic, but didn't really know why. He just knew that he was alone, and neither Severus nor Harry were here to help him.

"What's going on?" Light Arrow asked when he arrived.

"He didn't react to anything we said or asked. At least he stopped crawling away and worsening his ankle by it. Look at it. It's in a crazy angle," Brian explained.

"I see. Thanks for your help. Now take the others with you and go," Light Arrow said. He heard footsteps behind him while he studied Draco. He didn't need to turn around to know it was White Cloud and Rose.

"Draco?" Light Arrow made one step in the direction of the boy, but stopped the moment Draco started to crawl away again. The boy seemed to be in shock or deep in a panic attack because he didn't even wince when he used his hurt foot.

"Draco, please stop crawling away," Rose said, laid a hand on her father's shoulder and pushed past him in Draco's direction.

White Cloud meanwhile ushered the kids away.

"Draco, you are safe here. Please calm down and tell us what's wrong," Rose said calmly.

Draco whimpered and shook his head. Something was telling him that he didn't need to be afraid of Rose, but another part just wanted to crawl away and wait for Severus and Harry to come back. Why did they leave him alone? Will they ever come back? "They are away. I'm alone," Draco whispered miserably.

Understanding what just happened, Rose said, "They are just in the town, Draco. They will be back in an hour or so. Didn't they tell you?"

Draco shook his head. He couldn't remember that they had told him everything. He could just remember the small red dot vanishing behind the horizon. He pointed to where the dot had vanished.

"Draco, they will be back soon." Rose had reached the boy, but didn't dare to touch him. White Cloud, who had come back from the house, knelt down beside Rose and gave her a vial with a calming draught.

"Come on, Draco. Drink this for me. You will feel better."

Draco shook his head and hid his face in his hands. Why did they leave him alone?

Rose finally risked to touch Draco. "Shhh, Draco. You are safe. It's me, Rose. Do you remember?"

"Rose," Draco whispered. Rose meant warm and kind and... safe. He looked up and felt something tickling at his shoulder. Something was running from Rose's hand into his body and it felt good, very relaxing.

"Yes, Rose. That's me, and I want you to drink this for me. Can you do this?"

Draco nodded. When the vial was pressed against his lips, he tilted his head back and drank. Only a minute later Draco felt calm and didn't really remember why he was sitting on the ground.

"Draco?" Light Arrow asked and cupped the boy's cheeks with his rough hands. "We need to drive to Doc Martens, okay?"

"Doc Martens? Why?" Draco was really puzzled. Why was he sitting here, and why were they all looking so worried? He tried to stand up, but Light Arrow and Rose prevented it.

"No, Draco, please remain sitting. You hurt your ankle, and we need Doc Martens to have a look at it," Light Arrow said. He looked up at his wife.

"Red Horse is already getting the car."

"Good," Light Arrow stated and watched Draco, who was looking in fascination at his ankle. A quick glance at the empty vial confirmed his assumption that White Cloud had chosen one of their strongest calming draughts.

It would make the trip to the doctor a lot easier. "Inform the doc that we are coming. I take Red Horse with me," he Light Arrow said to his wife, when he heard the pickup roll over to them, turning to his daughter, he added. "Rose, please take care of the kids."

"Of course, Dad, but don't you think it would be better if I came with you?"

"No, he is well dosed. There won't be any trouble. The kids need you now."

"Eww. That doesn't look good," Red Horse said when he leaned down to lift Draco in his arms.

Draco looked puzzled at Red Horse. What didn't look good. Did he mean his funny ankle? Draco giggled.

Red Horse looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Then he looked at Light Arrow and White Cloud. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, it was," White Cloud scolded him for questioning her choice. To be honest she hadn't thought Draco would react that strongly to it, but she didn't regret it. It would make the trip to the doc much easier for him.

Red Horse snorted and carried Draco over to the pickup. A short glance at Light Arrow showed him that he was meant to sit with Draco while the old man drove. Draco giggled the whole drive about his right foot. It was turned almost ninety degrees to the right. "Look it is pointing at you," Draco said to Red Horse between giggles.

"Yes, I can see that," Red Horse said, unsure how to communicate with the drugged boy. He had only once seen someone drugged like this and that was Severus. Red Horse himself had been deeply shocked at that time. A kitchen knife had been sticking out of Severus' leg. Red Horse had startled him while he had cut his arms, and Severus' hand had slipped. It was the second time Severus had been back in the camp for a longer period. Shortly after he had become a spy for Dumbledore. Black Hawk had thrown up, and Red Horse had to help Light Arrow with Severus. White Cloud had drugged Severus up after he had almost screamed his lungs out. Light Arrow had to use all his strength to stop him from pulling out the knife. Red Horse still could remember Severus' frightened expression with the wide open eyes. Only after the calming draught, Severus had stopped screaming and then he just giggled like Draco did now.

The waiting room was crowded, but Mrs. Blunt waved them directly into one of the two examination room. "Just sit him down on the examination table. Doc Martens will be with you soon."

A minute later the doctor came in. "Hello. White Cloud already informed me," he said to Red Horse and Light Arrow. Then he concentrated on his patient. "Hello, Draco!"

"Hi, Doc, look!" Draco said, lifted his leg and giggled. "It's showing the way out." More giggles.

Doc Martens looked at Light Arrow lifting his eyebrow.

"It was White Cloud's choice. It was the level four calming draught."

"Then I would suggest to never give him the level five."

"Yes, we made this conclusion as well," Light Arrow stated dryly.

"Yes, Draco, that's very funny," Doc Martens said and forced himself to smile. "I would like to have a closer look at it. Is it okay when I vanish your trousers, socks and shoes?"

Draco furrowed his eyebrows. Something told him he should be worried about it, but he couldn't remember why.

"Just to have a better look at it, Draco. There is nothing wrong about wanting to see it closer, right?" Doc Martens said to stop Draco's trail of thoughts.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. If he couldn't remember why it wouldn't be good, there most likely wasn't something bad about it. When his trousers were gone he got this crazy feeling again, but it felt as if it was deep inside him and couldn't come to the surface.

"Ah, there it is," Do Martens said and rolled himself with his chair closer to Draco's ankle. When he touched the foot lightly, Draco cried out and drew his foot back. "That hurts." During the drive nobody had touched it, and he had always been carried. With the shock fading, he felt the pain very vividly.

"I know, Draco, but I need to examine you before I can give you something for the pain. I will try to be as careful and fast as possible."

"Okay," Draco said miserably. The funny thing was that after the first shock about the pain he was quickly feeling better again and now he couldn't really remember the pain any longer. Still he felt a tiny bit nervous.

This time Doc Martens grabbed Draco's leg farther up the shin. Does anything hurt here? Or here?" He felt Draco's shin and knee, but the boy denied. The doctor took a good hold on Draco's shin and and then felt the ankle quickly. Draco cried out again and tried to pull his leg back, but the man didn't let go. The injured teen whimpered heartbreakingly, and Red Horse shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

When the Doc finally let go of Draco's leg, the boy tried to crawl away from him.

"Ah...ah, Draco." With a hand on Draco's hip, the Doc prevented him from crawling out of his reach. "It's almost over."

Draco looked frightened at the doctor. His ankle hurt and tears were flowing freely over his cheeks. "It hurts!"

"I know, and if you sit still, I will give you something for the pain, okay?" The man stood and took something out of a cabinet.

Draco nodded, but when the doctor came back with a syringe, he changed his mind. Before he could jump down from the examination table, Light Arrow was at his side.

"It seems the potion has lost it's effect already," Light Arrow said, worried.

"No, no, it hasn't. It's just not as effective as it was an hour ago. Just let him calm a bit more and it will be effective again," Doc Martens explained while he prepared a potion for the syringe. Light Arrow had pulled Draco against him, and the boy didn't make any attempt to flee now. A few more seconds, and he would be relaxed like in the beginning. When Draco let his head loll against Light Arrow's shoulder, the doctor sneaked closer. The later Draco would see the syringe coming closer to his arm the more time they had to administer the potion before Draco's brain registered what happened and it worked: The syringe was already in Draco's arm when he tried to pull away. "There Draco, all done, the pain will go away now."

After three minutes Doc Martens cautiously tested if Draco's leg was still sensible. When he cautiously prodded the ankle without getting any protest from the boy, he knew that it was time to readjust the ankle. "Could you capture his good leg with yours, Light Arrow? Just in case he might kick."

Light Arrow secured Draco's good leg with his and pulled Draco closer. The boy only very dimly registered that something was about to happen soon. There was this calming sirring sound in his head and a humming went through his whole body. Draco's head rested against Light Arrow's shoulder. He just wanted to sleep. "Tired."

"I know, Draco. We will soon be back home, and then you can sleep," Light Arrow assured the teen, never lifting his eyes from the doctor's hands. When he saw the man gripping the foot and the ankle to readjust it, he tightened his grip on Draco.

Draco felt Light Arrow's arms close around him and looked up at the old man puzzled. Then a piercing pain went through his ankle and he cried out. Immediately he was pulled against Light Arrow's chest and calming circles were drawn on his back. "Shh.. it's all over, Draco. You ankle is okay now. We can go home in a few minutes," Light Arrow said calmly.

Draco sobbed wildly. It really hurt and the pain only ebbed down very slowly. He was very tired and exhausted and just wanted to crawl into his bed, hug his snake and sleep. When he was pulled on Light Arrow's lap, he didn't protest. Only when a cool salve was applied on his ankle, he whined in protest. "It will make you feel better, Draco. It will cool your foot, so it won't become too swollen."

Draco almost didn't register his ankle being wrapped in a bandage nor the doctor redressing him. "Finished!" He petted Draco's head. "I will give Light Arrow your lollipop for being so brave. He will have a good eye on it until you are ready to eat it, okay?"

Draco nodded and watched the red lollipop finding it's way in Light Arrow's chest pocket.

"One for you as well, Red Horse. Sometimes it is harder to see someone in pain than being in pain yourself." Doc Martens held the box of sweets in Red Horse's direction. The man blushed, but took a coke flavoured one.

"Thank you," Red Horse said shyly. It always made him nervous to be around the doctor even though he had helped him many times.

"You should change the bandage once a day, and he should use crutches for the next days. I have my next appointment with Severus in two days. I will have a look at Draco then. Until then apply the salve each time you change the bandages."

"Should he stay in bed?"

"No, that's not necessary. But he should rest his leg up whenever it is possible. He shouldn't stay or sit too long with his leg down and never let him go without the crutches."

"Okay, we will have an eye on him," Light Arrow assured the doctor. "One more question: Could you give me a few of those rubber bands you gave Severus?"

"What happened with Severus'?" He through a glance over at Draco, but Severus had told him that he had spoken with Harry and Draco about his problems, so it was safe to speak openly.

"Nothing, he still has them, but I need them for someone else."

The doctor looked seriously at Light Arrow. "If someone else has a self-mutilation problem, I should speak with him or her. It cannot be solved with just the rubber bands."

"I know this, Doc. I'm leading the camp for a long time. The person isn't so far in self-harming and we already started regular talking session. I don't think he would react too well if I would involve you in his problems right now, but I will contact you soon." Light Arrow felt awkward saying this; he gestured over to Draco for the doctor to understand that it wasn't the time to discuss matters. He had worked together with the doctor for many years now. "We can speak about it when you come to see Severus and Draco in two days. I will have spoken with the other patient until then and will have him informed about your involvement."

"I trust your judgment, Light Arrow, but you know where I am if you need help earlier," Doc Martens said seriously while he gave Light Arrow the rubber bands.

"I know, and I'm very thankful for your support, Doc," Light Arrow said uncomfortably.

"I see you in two days then. Please don't give him any painkillers. You can add a cooling charm on his bandage, but that's all he should get for the pain. It should be bearable and the pain will stop him from overdoing it. It will make him sit down and prop his leg up more often, which will help him heal. If the pain is too much for him to bear, firecall me!"