-II-

"Not bad, little bro," Black Hawk said when he appeared in Harry's vision. "I didn't think you would survive so long. I think you deserve a ride just for fighting so hard."

"Really?" Harry was up in a second, smiling happily.

"Really," Black Hawk said. "But first you need to shake hands with Red Horse. What happens in the wrestling arena, stays in the wrestling arena. Victories and defeats are not to be used outside the arena for anything. No mocking, no bragging, no black mailing or anything else. Understood?"

"Sure," Harry said. That felt like a manly thing, and it makes him feel much stronger. He went over to Red Horse and shook his hand.

"Good, now let's get some food into you, so you won't fall from your horse. Then we will get Tohiadedi and Shallow Water ready for the ride," Black Hawk said, laying his hand on Harry's neck.

"Yes," Harry said, excited, and smiled at Black Hawk.

"My, if I had known it was so easy to make you smile, I would have suggested it earlier," Black Hawk teased Harry and ruffled his hair again.

-II-

Nervously, Draco looked at Severus and then back to Harry. Something must have happened last night. Harry refused to speak with him or anyone else that morning. His appetite was gone, he just sat with his arms crossed over his chest at the breakfast table refusing to eat or speak. Severus shook his head and gestured Draco to leave it be for a while.

After breakfast, Severus pulled Draco aside. "Come with me, I still have time before I need to leave to speak with the headmaster about my schedule."

"What's wrong with Harry?" Draco asked as soon as they were in Severus' room. Sitting down on the bed, Draco pressed Taz against his chest. As long as he didn't look at the plushy, he could pretend that it was his snake.

"He will be okay. I can't tell you what happened, but trust me - he will be okay." Severus had found an agreement with Light Arrow. He would try to accept that the others handled most of the problems Harry and Draco would have, and in turn, he would be informed and involved in almost all of the decisions concerning 'his' boys. So Light Arrow had spoken with Severus as soon as he had gotten a report from Black Hawk about the previous night's events. "Just give him some time to think. Black Hawk and Light Arrow will speak with him as soon as we have all left for the school. Crying Horse will take over for Black Hawk and drive us over to the school instead. I would like it if you would join me. They will be occupied with Harry and we could explore the town when I'm finished talking with the headmaster. I won't start teaching until tomorrow, so you just have to wait for half an hour or so. That way you have something to do this morning. What do you say?"

"Sounds good. What will we do in town?"

"We will see. There is a small cafè, a bookstore and a park. I have my wand, and we can apparate back whenever we want. We will have to walk a bit because we can't apparate directly into the camp, but it is not a very far walk."

"That sounds good to me. Maybe I can find a good book for Hermione, or maybe something about snakes. Red Horse and Light Arrow have shown us a few; did you know?"

"Yes, I have heard. If you want to read about snakes, you can use Light Arrow's library. It is full of all kind of animal book and spiritual books. As for the gift for Miss Granger, you could buy almost any book and she would love it." Severus pulled a face.

Draco laughed. "You told her she could use your first name after the war, but you still call her Miss Granger. That's odd, isn't it?"

Severus raised his eyebrow. "I offered her to use my first name because she was always around you and Harry. Old habits die hard. So, you can buy any book for Hermione and she would love it."

"Where is this library you spoke of?"

"Have you seen the small door next to the painting of a big forest in the living room?"

Draco racked his brain and could remember an inconspicuous door. "Yes, I thought it was a closet."

"No, it's a library, but right now we don't have enough time. Go to your room and get ready; we will leave in twenty minutes. You can come back here as soon as you are finished, and we can speak a little longer, or perhaps I can show you a bit of the library before we leave."

Draco jumped up and sat Taz on the bed. "I will be back in a second."

Five minutes later, he was back, fully dressed for a day outside the camp. Looking around in confusion, he groaned in annoyance when he realized that Severus had sat Taz back on the shelf again. "Why do you insist on sitting him on the shelf?" Draco asked and lifted the plushy from the shelf. It felt so good to feel the purring of it against his chest. So Draco sat down back in the bed, sighing happily when Taz purred even more. "He likes it better on the bed. Listen, he is purring louder."

Severus rolled his eyes. "That's because it is charmed like that. The more distressed you are, or the closer you are to a bed, the thing will purr louder."

"It is called Taz. You spoke of him by calling him by his name before, so don't try to pretend you see him just like an it, Sev." Draco looked reprimanding at Severus.

"I had a weak moment. Don't hold it against me!" Severus said, but grinned.

Draco smiled at Severus. The purring made him almost drowsy.

Severus groaned. "I think White Cloud meant it a bit too much when she charmed this one." He took the plushy out of Draco's arms and moved to the shelf, but he paused and went back to the bed and sat the Tasmanian devil on it. "Satisfied?"

Draco still grinned madly.

Shaking his head, Severus pulled Draco up. "Let's go to the library."

"Wow!" Draco exclaimed when he looked around in the small library. He let his finger roam over the spines of the books on animals. "This is amazing. Hermione will love it."

"Hermione? You have been mentioning her quite often lately. Has something developed you haven't told me about?"

Draco blushed. "I like her, and she wants to visit us later, with Dumbledore."

"Professor Dumbledore, Draco. Technically you are still a student at Hogwarts."

Draco's face fell.

"What's going on in your head?"

Draco sighed. "I don't want to go back."

Severus stiffened briefly, but tried to overplay it. "Pardon?"

"I don't want to go back at all, Severus. I like it here. I'm just scared when I think about you and Harry leaving." Draco looked down at his feet. When Severus laid his hand on his shoulder, he threw himself forward and hugged Severus tightly. "I don't want to stay here alone, but I don't want to go back."

Gently Severus pat Draco's head. "It's not the time to think or speak about leaving, Draco. You need a lot more time to heal, and then we can speak about leaving or staying. Don't trouble yourself about it right now."

Draco didn't let go of Severus and pressed his face against his chest. "Will you be mad at me if I don't go back?"

"I want you to be happy, Draco. If you decide you want to stay when you are healed, I will accept it. The important thing is that you are happy and feel safe."

Draco sighed, relieved, and finally let go of Severus. He smiled shyly and then let his eyes wander again. "What's that?" A big book with the word Cherokee on it had caught his eye. It was a dictionary for Cherokee into English. "Can I find what Unega's name means in here?"

"Certainly," Severus said dryly and sat down at the small table in the room.

Draco flopped down on the chair opposite of Severus and searched for Unega in the book. "Here, I found it. It means white, like Black Hawk said it did."

Severus chuckled. "Why would he tell you something wrong? He is a Cherokee, haven't you been told?"

"Yes, Red Horse has told me. Red Horse is an Iroquois, did you know that?"

Severus laughed. "Yes, I know. And Crying Horse is a Lakota. I lived for a long time with them, Draco." Leaning back, Severus grinned, amused.

Draco wasn't listening to him any longer and was flipping through the pages. "What is the phrase that is written on the red pick-up?"

"Awadvdi Tsvsa," Severus answered. "I can tell you what it means."

"No, I want to find out on my own," Draco said and looked feverishly for the words, his finger skimming over the pages. "Ha, there it is! Awadvdi. It means find and Tsvsa means... yourself. Find yourself." He looked proudly at Severus. Seeing that he just looked amused at him, Draco went on, "Harry said what Light Arrow always calls us means twins."

"Dinilawi," Severus said.

"Yes, exactly."

"Severus?" Crying Horses voice bellowed through the closed door.

Severus jumped up. "We forgot the time. Come on, we need to go." Severus ushered Draco out of the room after the book was returned to the shelf, and they met Crying Horse, Maya, Brian and Ken in the living room.

"Your sheer nerve [the way you had it, Severus, arriving late for your first talk with your new employer," Crying Horse said, shaking his head jokingly.

"I don't care if he employs me or not. They were the ones asking me to teach again," Severus said arrogantly and got admiring looks from the kids for it.

"Great role model," Crying Horse said sarcastically, suppressing a grin.

Severus just shrugged his shoulders and went outside.

"Why does he never wear a hat?" Maya asked Crying Horse shyly.

"Because he is arrogant and prefers to get sunstroke rather than be seen wearing a hat."

"Did he already get one?" Ken asked.

"Many," Crying Horse answered.

"He is lying. I'm immune to the sun," Severus said and pulled the passenger door of the pick-up open.

"Ha, dream on. Wait until I let White Cloud tell them about all the times you got sunstroke," Crying Horse said threateningly. Turning to the kids he said, "Light Arrow always threatens that he will make his bum look like his head if he gets another one. I wish he would carry out the deed one day." Crying Horse grinned madly. It was always very amusing when Severus got scolded like a kid after doing something stupid, again. Crying Horse had never met a man that was as stubborn as Severus, yet let Light Arrow and White Cloud boss him around as if he was a child.

The kids looked with gapping mouths at Crying Horse. Light Arrow had never threatened to do something like that to any of them, but they had already realized that Severus was a very stubborn sometimes. Black Hawk often got a cuff on the back of his head by Light Arrow or Red Horse, but never was he threatened of getting spanked.

"He is telling you stories," Severus shouted out of the pick-up. "Don't listen to him. And if you listen to him, I would think twice about making comment about it because soon I will be your teacher. Just ask Draco how much I'm loved as a teacher."

"He wore a hat in the garden," Draco said to support Severus, avoiding making comment on Severus' teaching.

"Yes, White Cloud's garden straw hat, but he only wore it because otherwise White Cloud would have made him work in the garden for a month." Crying Horse ushered the kids into the jump seats on the bed of the pick-up and made sure that they all fastened their seat-belts. "First day at school again. What a joy. A little more enthusiasm please."

The kids groaned, and Crying Horse laughed.

"Where are Melissa and Aiden?" Draco asked curiously.

"They only get taught by Rose and White Cloud. Aiden has a learning disorder and dropped out of school. He hates to learn, but Rose takes no pity on him, even though he technically doesn't have to go to school any more. He has to spend the whole morning with her and Melissa, and sometimes White Cloud, to learn basic stuff he could need in the future. You should hear him curse about it. White Cloud once washed his mouth out with soap when she had heard it. That was damn funny! Since then, he has been very careful who is listening when he swears and complains about the schooling from Rose," Brian explained.

"And Melissa?" Draco asked.

"She is too shy," Brian replied.

"She is not," Maya said and bopped Brian.

"What? It's the truth. She is too scared to go to school. She wouldn't be able to look up or listen to the teacher. She hardly speaks a word to us."

"Because you are immature. With me, she talks a lot," Maya said, shaking her head.

Brian and Ken snorted. "She is like a snail not daring to come out of her shell. She has to learn to open her mouth," Brian said.

"You are lucky Light Arrow didn't hear you say that. How would you have felt if we had judged you like that when you were new? What if we had laughed about your stupid behavior? Peeing against the pick-up was so mature, Brian. Or what about you Ken? Do you think blabbering about how cool you are all the time was something we should have judged you by?" Maya discussed heatedly.

"That was all when we were here the first few weeks. Melissa has been here for five month now," Brian protested. He hated it when Maya was such a know-it-all and thought she is a second White Cloud to tell them what to do or scold them.

"Melissa just needs more time, and if you wouldn't pick on her so often, she would already be much more open," Maya said, annoyed. Sometimes the boys were so stupid.

"We don't pick on her; we try to get her out of her shell," Brian replied. He never knew when it was time to give up and shut his mouth. At least the adults couldn't hear their conversation in the cab.

"What?" Now Maya was pissed. "You think picking on her for looking dreamily at Harry would bring her out of her shell? You make it all so much worse with your stupid comments, and you know it, or otherwise you wouldn't hide your comments when one of the adults is around! She is isolating herself lately because of it, and Light Arrow already told you to stop. So don't play dumb."

"You girls just don't stand for any nonsense. You have to take everything so seriously. Maybe Harry would want her as his girlfriend if she would ask him," Brian said, annoyed.

"Maybe she doesn't want him as a boyfriend, and you lot interpreted something wrong from her looks," Maya said, pulling a face. "How dumb are you two, and Aiden as well. Don't you see what's wrong with her? She is skin and bones, and if she had it her way, she would even loose more weight. She would never believe that someone like Harry would want her as his girlfriend. You with your stupid allusions make her more and more insecure. She thinks she is fat and you tell her to go to Harry and tell him that she is in love." She growled, frustrated seeing the dumb expressions on the boy's faces.

"You girl, are just crazy. Too fat, have you seen her in her bikini? It would be like kissing a skeleto- ouch," Brian screamed when Maya hit the back of his head, hard. "What was that for?"

Maya gasped for air. Did this dunderhead really ask her what that was for? "You disgust me! I won't speak with you any longer. It is just useless. You have the brain of a fly!"

"A fly has no brain," Brian said angrily, to Maya only confirming his stupidity.

"If you say so, you, just confirm my theory." With that said, Maya crossed her arms over her chest and ignore the boys. She also didn't react when Brian pulled a face in her direction and stuck his tongue out. She just sat at her seat staring, annoyed, into the distance.

After a few minutes Draco leaned over to Maya and asked, "Do you really think Melissa wants Harry as her boyfriend?"

"Really, Draco, don't start this again. Melissa has no time for a boyfriend, nor does Harry. They both have to concentrate on themselves."

She really sounded like one of the adults, so Draco decided to let the topic drop for the time being.