Flight of the Thestrals

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. The characters and setting are, of course, J.K. Rowling's. I just take a bit of artistic license with them....

Spoilers: up to and including OOTP.

Rated R for reason. This story contains adult language, & sexual situations (straight and slash). Also has implied abuse and suicidal thoughts. May have disturbing imagery later. Don't read if you can't handle all of these things.

A/N: I just want you to know that I DO like Harry and Hermione, but you might not get that impression from this story. Sorry. Nor do I usually do anything remotely 'slashy'... I think the blame for that goes to dracademented, who has a great story on here called Unexpected. Check it out. I'm not nearly as into it or descriptive of course. Overall, my muse got in a REAL weird mood, and this is what happened :) I am using what seems to be the generally accepted description of Blaise Zabini (male, good looking, black hair, dark eyes) but I have not been able to find him in the actual HP books other than as the last name in the sorting ceremony in first year. If you know where J.K. describes him, by all means send me the book # and page #! I would greatly appreciate it!

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Chapter 1

Draco secured his invisibility cloak around him. It wasn't the most ideal form of concealment, but it was all he had. These little late night flights had become his favorite way of dealing with his chronic insomnia... and the pressures that caused it. It was almost as if he only felt like himself while cutting through the night sky... Hogwarts, even when only amongst his 'friends', had become so unbearably stifling... Besides, why be cooped up in Slytherin House when he could be out in the open air? The cloak didn't cover the broom perfectly when in flight, even with the many binding spells he had on it, but it should leave little enough showing to keep people from noticing... or if they did, they would be unlikely to figure out what it was they were seeing.

He looked at his watch. Almost midnight. Surely everyone else would be asleep by now anyway. He slipped his broom under the cloak with him and made his way silently out of the dungeons and up into an unused classroom. He went over, slipping the window open. He'd learned a while back to avoid the doors. He was almost certain they had started setting alarms on them, because Filch always seemed to be there within seconds if someone opened one after dark nowadays.

He preferred to have a secure way back in.

He shifted his broom around, mounting it, and glided silently out the window. He sighed happily as he slipped through the night. It was so peaceful out in the night... up in the air with no one watching... no one constantly judging him. He steered towards the Forbidden Forest. It had always terrified him... not so much for the fearsome creatures that dwelt there... but more for how much it looked like the forest near Malfoy Manor... and what he'd had to endure at his father's hands there... He darted over the forest defiantly. It had become the main attraction of his nightly flights.

He skimmed close to the dark trees, tempting fate. It gave him a rush to be so near to mortal peril. He looked over as he heard an eerie cry. A Thestral broke through the canopy, flying parallel to him. Draco was flying at near breakneck speeds, but the Thestral made it look like a lazy glide, easily keeping pace with him.

He smiled over at it. They always seemed able to see him without any trouble. He, of course, had been able to see them since his father had murdered a muggle in front of him when he was no more than a toddler. He had never admitted this of course. If he had, he would have to tell them whom he'd seen die.

He began swerving his flight path back and forth. It matched. From the corner of his eye he saw a couple more join them. By the time he curved around as they past over the heart of the forest, a small phalanx of Thestrals flew in his wake. He couldn't help but smile. It had always given him an unexplainable rush to fly with them. They swooped and dove, twisting and undulating their flight with unearthly grace for nearly twenty minutes before they started breaking off.

He watched sadly as the last one glided back down into the forest. They were such elegant creatures really... and eerily beautiful when flying in the moonlight. He gave them a little smile, feeling his spirits lifted. He glided back towards the castle.

He sighed as the edge of the forest hove into view. He wasn't ready to call it a night yet... He combed the grounds with his eyes, looking for something else to do. A wicked smirk slipped over his lips as he shifted course.

He pressed down close to the broom, speeding up. As he approached, he made sure he could easily get his hand free. With a dizzying rush he swooped down, diving through the branches of the Whomping Willow. As he passed the main trunk, he darted his hand down and snatched off a twig. The tree was instantly in motion, though it didn't know what to swat at. He dodged it's huge, club-like branches and managed to dart back out unscathed.

He did a cannonball roll, letting out a laugh of exhilaration. When he settled back, slowing, he looked at his prize. The little twig was writhing around in his grasp like a thin snake. He fastened it securely to his belt and flew on, still riding the adrenaline rush.

As it ebbed a bit he sighed, realizing that he once again didn't know what to do next. Another buzzing of the Willow would be blatantly suicidal at the moment. It usually kept up it's swinging for a good twenty minutes after he did that... and even after it settled it was just waiting for movement and more than ready to take down anyone foolish enough to come near.

Well... so he'd done the Forest and the Willow... there was the lake, but there was very little actually dangerous about that... nothing likely to get him killed at least... so what was the fun in that? He sighed. Well, he could always fly around and see what the other houses were up to...

In his opinion, Slytherin House was the only House that had any common sense. They had no windows. The other houses made such a big deal about guarding their doorways and using passwords... and then left their windows open! It just didn't make any sense...

He drifted over to Ravenclaw house. Sleeping. Sleeping. Sleeping... how boring. Didn't any of these people ever get insomnia? Or study late? They were supposed to be these brainiacs who were constantly cramming their heads with any information they could get their hands on... and yet none of them even had the dedication to study into the night?

He sighed and was about to fly off when he spotted one of the windows with a feeble light coming from it. He drifted over, then sighed again. Just some seventh year prat taking a bath by candlelight. Like he wanted to see some GUY in a tub. He started to turn away when the door into the room opened. He paused, seeing a fifth year girl slip into the room. She saw the boy and smiled.

Now this could get interesting....

He smirked evilly and drifted closer to the window, glancing back and rearranging his cloak quickly to make sure he was completely out of sight. His eyes darted back over as she started undoing her robe. Draco's jaw dropped in a very uncivilized manner. It was quite obvious this wasn't the first time they had done this. She stripped her robe off without hesitation or even so much as a blush.

She was... wow... He wouldn't have guessed it from her school uniform, but she was quite well developed for a fifth year.... Riding the broom suddenly became a bit uncomfortable, but he ignored it. He had to stifle his groan of irritation when she slipped into the tub, the foamy suds hiding her up to her shoulders. This of course became less upsetting when she drifted over to the boy and they started a heated snogging session.

Draco shifted a bit on his broom. He was most definitely uncomfortable now, but wasn't about to leave. He watched as the boy shifted her around and pushed her up against the side of the tub, pressing against her. He shifted around some and her head jerked back. She gasped, then bit her lip. Despite the irritating obscuring suds, Draco had no doubt they were well beyond snogging by this point.

It was confirmed almost immediately as he started thrusting up against her rhythmically, letting out a low, stifled groan. Draco watched the girl's face in fascination. Her eyes were closed with a rapturous look on her face. He watched as she bit her lip again to stifle her moans. It was entrancing... he'd never really just watched the girl's face when he was shagging one... of course he had been distracted by other things... but just that look on her face... he wondered if the girls he'd shagged had looked like that while he was taking them...

He watched as the girl arched against him, her eyes springing open but unfocused as a cry of pleasure escaped her when she came. The boy grunted, obviously finishing up as well.

Draco looked over, noticing with amusement as a light came on in one of the other rooms. As Ravenclaws, they really should have been smart enough to put a silencing spell on the room before shagging. He glanced back at the couple. They were just holding eachother and kissing softly, blithely unaware that they were about to be discovered.

He smirked. Well... they had given him a good show... and he was feeling generous... besides, if they were caught, he was much less likely to get a show on future outings. He drifted forward and gave one swift rap against the window pane. He watched in amusement as they jerked, looking around wildly for the source of the sound, then scrambled out of the tub dripping suds and grabbed up their robes.

Draco drifted away from the window and glided around the building. Well that was certainly more fun than hanging around in his room!

He flew over to Hufflepuff. Nothing. He sighed. Surely all the little goody goody Gryffindors would be safely tucked in bed as well... he swung around, drifting up to their tower anyway. He circled it, drifting up another level with each pass. All asleep. He smirked as he saw the sleeping students in their pajamas. The moonlight was pale, but he spotted at least a couple with very amusing patterns. He paused at the sixth year boys' window. There was his age old enemy... sleeping away... blithely unaware that there was a Malfoy just a few feet from him. The window was cracked open... it would be so easy to slip in there and finish him off... and no one would even suspect him... how could they? He wasn't a Gryffindor...

It would make his father very happy. That thought wiped the smirk off his face. He sighed. No reason to make THAT happen... even if it would make Draco happy as well... His father didn't deserve happiness. He started to drift away from the window. He couldn't help but smirk as he recognized the pattern on Harry's pajamas... little golden snitches... What he would give to be able to tell the whole school... but then they would ask him how he knew... how vexing!

He continued his circumnavigation of the tower. No signs of life. He drifted up, passing a turret. He nearly gasped as he suddenly found himself within inches of a girl.

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