Next chapter at 300 comments! Dedicated to -authorsage

  THE AIR FLICKERED. Hissing, spitting like some fire-raged serpent, devouring the inn, coiling around the wooden beams and eating at the ivy. Red kissing grey, grey kissing black, creating a wave of mud-touched colour, painting the night like a war scene, with only the bloodshed yet to come. Smoke spiralled a pious path, hands outstretched to the sky above, wanting, searching, whilst the world beneath it burned.
Below, the Crawlers watched, jeering and shouting with mouths full of fury. The largest of them held up a silencing hand and the rabble hushed to quiet. He was a great, hideous, brute of a man — arguably hardly a man at all — half wolf as he was, with great gnarled claws protruding from his knuckles and a matted mane of dark grey hair that looked more bestial than human.

"Come on, what are we waiting around for? They're as good as dead already." Groaned a particularly short Crawler, earning a low growl from their wolfish leader.

"They're not dead, yet." Said a second, tall, rather handsome young man who looked terribly out of place when stood next to the rest of the Crawlers. The grey of his eyes danced with the bright reflection of the flames as they all stood, sentinel, and watched the chaos unfold. The dark wood crackled as it burned, the tips of the flames gleaming violet from all the magic held within the inn.

"You don't know that," The short man spoke again, growing impatient as he struggled to keep warm, "Like I said they're as good as dead anyways, not like they can get out, all the doors are cursed close and the windows are too high—,"

"— Do you really think someone like Draco Malfoy can be killed by something as simple as fire?" Snarled the outsider, taking a menacing step towards the Crawler.

The wolf-man gave a small flash of teeth, annoyed by their childish bickering but not looking away from the burning building, "Leave him, Diggory. Let the fire flush them out, then he'll see..."

•  •  •

DRACO WAS THE first to stir, choking on the thick scent of smoke that scorched its way through his lungs. His reaction was instant, innate, so used to running that it had long become second nature to him. He grabbed Seven from where she slept; wrapped tightly to his side, half dragging her from the bed, half carrying.

"Seven! Seven wake up! — We've got to go!"

Her eyes flew open, an assault of green through the haze of grey that had begun to fill the room as she struggled to her feet, "What? What is it?"

"Fire — they're burning it down — they know, Seven — they know we're here!" His voice became breathy, haggard as he realised that their door had been locked from the outside, "Give me your wand!"

She did at once, not questioning why he could not use his own. He pointed it hurriedly at the lock, "Alohamora!"

Nothing happened, and Draco knew at once it had been cursed with a magic far darker than Seven's wand was capable of banishing. Desperately he scanned the room, only one small window stared back at him. "— The window, go!"

"But our things —,"

"Fuck the things, go!"

Flames began to work their way under the door, herding them both towards the only exit, where beneath, Crawlers lay in wait.
The only thing Seven paused to grab was her bag, for within it was everything they could ever need and more; but most importantly, most selfishly, her letters.

"Come here," Draco threw open the window, moving away to help lift Seven so that she could be the first to climb out. Smoke seared her lungs, biting a bitter fire through her throat and making her head spin.

Even outside Seven could feel the heat of the fire melting her hair to her face with sweat as she clung to a drainpipe, clambering up slightly so that Draco could join her. He wrapped himself around her, taller and stronger as he was, so that his chest pressed tightly into her back and their breaths mingled as one.
She had never felt quite so grateful for his closeness. All the smoke she'd inhaled had made it hard to breathe and weakness worked away at her grip on the drainpipe, "What now?"

She didn't have to be able to see him to hear the way he spoke through his teeth, "We climb down, just lean your weight on me."

Slowly but surely they began to descend, though Seven didn't dare look down, merely imagining how high up they were was enough to turn her stomach sour.
It took a while for her to notice, that awful quiet, how the air seemed a little too still, and the night far too cold.

"Draco," She whispered, worried that even the sound of her own voice may shatter the illusion, "Stop. Listen."

"What? I can't hear anything?"

Even the roar of the fire had dampened to little more than a crackle, dying more the further down they climbed though beneath their hands the pipe grew warmer. "Something's wrong..."

And then, Draco realised, the absence of sound and what it meant. Seven realised it too, in her own ignorant way. Even though she didn't know what, she knew something had changed, if only by the way Draco tensed around her like a shield.
A building was burning down in the middle of the Greed district, an inn no less, filled with people and patrons. And yet, there was not a scream to be heard.

"Crawlers..." Seven breathed, finally catching on.

"Crawlers." Draco confirmed grimly, his words spoken quietly into her ear, "We have to move before they find us, and once we reach the ground hide in the bushes until it's clear, and then you're going to run. Do you understand me Seven? You're going to run and you're not going to stop running until you reach the justice building."

When she didn't give any reply more than a nod he pressed again, "Promise me Seven, you won't stop running and you won't turn back, no matter what."

"Why are you saying this like you're not going to be there?" It hurt not being able to see his face, to judge his lies the way she'd so often grown accustomed to doing, "You will be there? Won't you Draco."

A moment too long, and then, "I'll always be there, but just in case anything happens to me I want you to promise." The ground was coming closer, only thirty feet left and Draco knew he was running out of time, "You'll do this one thing for me, won't you Seven?"

"I promise." That always seemed to be the way. Her agreeing to promises, wholeheartedly, foolishly, believing that this time it would be different, and him, breaking them.

"If we're separated or anything happens you have to leave me, run and don't look back. Go to the end, I'll meet you there. I'll find you Seven, I'll always find you, but you have to be the one to finish this."

"Draco, you're scaring me." She dared to look down and the height stole her breath away, "Why are you saying all this?"

He let out a quiet laugh, the sound that was usually her favourite came out hollow and humourless, "Do you remember when we first met? You asked me if you should be afraid, do you remember what I said?"

"I can't see how any of that matters right now," Seven hissed, accidentally stealing another glance of the ground below, "Shit. Can we just focus on getting down now please?"

His body was warm and firm around hers as they descended, guiding one another, his hands often brushing hers and his breaths fanning against her hair as he held their weight.

Seven's throat was tight, "How much further?"

His mouth moved to speak, but the words were struck out of him as a flash of blood-red light hit him straight between the shoulder blades. Seven felt the impact too, and then the crippling absence as Draco's grip on the drainpipe slackened, fingers untangling above her own and he began to fall.

"Draco!" She cried out, reaching out with one hand to grab his body as it fell, but it wasn't enough, she wasn't strong enough and the fabric of his shirt slipped between her fingertips.

She watched him fall almost as if in slow motion. Down. Down. Down through the darkness. Then, slamming into the pavement below with a sickening crack.
Getting down from then on was a blur to Seven, her palms slick with sweat and horrifically shaking as she practically threw herself down next to him. Her feet slammed into the concrete, aching with a wicked thrill of pain she did not allow herself to feel, and then, she was on him, leaning over him, praying to him — for him.
They had already made far too much noise, if by some miracle the Crawlers hadn't known their location previously, they certainly did now. Seven tried her best to keep the hush in her frantic voice as she pleaded with the unconscious man, "Draco, please, wake up!"

Seeping blood stained the corners of his lips and eyes, a thin trail also beginning to crawl from his nose. "No, no, no, no — no!" She cried, trying to wipe it all away but only making it look a thousand times worse, smears of bright crimson mixed with soot and ash covering them both. Seven's hair fell over her face like a midnight sheet as she tried to pull Draco's head onto her lap.

"Nice shot, Diggory."

Seven spun around at the sound, Crawlers seeming to emerge from all angles.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to do that." Smirked a familiar man, the same one they'd met in the bar the previous evening, "Hello again, little bird."

There was no escape, tears burned in Seven's eyes, worse so as she looked down at Draco, "Please, wake up." She whispered.

There had to be at least twelve of them, too many, but my no means their full number. And then, they parted, allowing another through. Their leader. A Crawler Seven had seen before, his ghastly face plastered on screens and with a name feared across the districts; Fenrir Greyback.

***
I won't lie, I'm not particularly proud of this chapter and feel it needs some heavy revision — which of course it will have in the paperback edition when they eventually release:)
QOTD- What do you think happens next;)