Draco looked at Harry curiously, "Did the upper years try and bother you last night?"
Harry smirked and shook his head and gestured for Draco to follow him, as they headed toward the entryway of the common room. Harry kept his voice down as they walked, despite the fact that there was no one in the common room. "I told you, I wasn't worried about it."
Draco glanced toward the direction of the first year rooms and raised an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry just shrugged enigmatically and murmured the password to exit the common room. Draco almost stopped and went to investigate the first year rooms, but decided against it at the last moment. He was almost positive Harry had done something, however Draco realized if he went to investigate at this time of the morning then he might get caught up in the aftermath.
Neither of them spoke as Harry led them through the halls. Neither one of them were eager to draw the attention of sleeping portraits or ghosts who roamed the halls at this early point in the morning. When Harry finally led them out of the castle, Draco looked at him curiously. "Okay what are we doing?"
Harry grinned mirthlessly as he guided Draco out across the grounds toward the Black Lake. "Simple. We're going to start getting ourselves in physical shape."
Draco frowned in puzzlement, "You mean like a…. muggle?"
Harry frowned, he had never liked the word muggle, but realized it was a personal preference and knew that a cultural word was the least of his concerns at the moment. He also took it as a positive sign that Draco didn't use an other more foul term. Harry could tell Draco was making some adjustments that he knew he was going to need to around Harry. That or perhaps being dead did change a person. Harry gestured around, "You want to survive? Sometimes magic isn't going to save you. You need to be as fit as possible. Sometimes that ability to move just a little bit faster or go just a bit farther physically will save your arse."
Draco sighed and shook his head, he wanted to argue. This was not what he had in mind when he had been so adamant about training. "I don't see how this helps us more than working on magic. You know, dueling, practicing and that sort of thing."
Harry nodded in agreement, "I don't disagree. However if we go dueling now, you will likely end up magically exhausted before we have classes today. My plan was to work out physically in the mornings, then do the same magically after classes are through."
"What makes you so sure that I'd be the one magically exhausted?" Draco asked with a huff of indignation at the presumption.
Harry didn't say anything, he just looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh. Right. Toe to toe with the Dark Lord." Draco looked abashed for a moment. He felt more powerful than he remembered since he had gotten a body in this world. But he realized that part of that could be the fact that he actually felt anything besides the sensation of being disembodied. However, Draco didn't think that he could truly match Harry, given the brief flashes of power that he had seen, and felt when Harry had gotten angered.
To Draco's surprise, Harry didn't so much as smirk at the unspoken implication that he was more powerful, he merely nodded. This more than anything reminded Draco that any semblance of their old relationship of competition was gone. Not that Draco had truly expected anything else, but habits were habits.
Harry chuckled, "Now come on enough delaying the inevitable, we're going swimming."
Draco blinked, distracted from Harry's deflection by his last statement. "Swimming?"
"Why in bloody hell are we going swimming Potter?" Draco demanded as he followed Harry to the lake edge.
Harry paid Draco's demanding tone no heed as he kicked off his shoes and shed his cloak. "Don't call me that. You'll slip when people are around. And a couple of reasons. First it works your whole body. Secondly, the water keeps you moving, even when you stop to take a breather, treading water takes energy. Lastly, the water's chilly."
Draco scowled as he reluctantly began to kick off his shoes and shed his cloak. "Of course the water is chilly. What has that got to do with it?"
Harry was already down to a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He had his arms crossed and was clearly waiting on Draco. He debated on ignoring the question and just pushing Draco to finish disrobing enough to start. "Wizards are a pampered lot. They don't like pain. Between pain relief potions, calming draughts and even memory charms to erase the memory of pain, they aren't used to being hurt. It's part of what makes the experience, pushing your body when it's not easy and comfortable. Oh, and no cheating and using warming charms." "You say "they" like you're not a wizard." Draco scowled as he stripped down to just a pair of shorts and his loose undershirt. He could see that Harry had a wrist holster strapped to his right wrist; one that securely held his wand but kept it for easy access. Draco blinked and did a double take when he noticed that Harry had one on his wrist, and one on his leg. He wondered why Harry would need more than one. Deciding it was something he might ask later, Draco made a mental note to owl order one later in the day.
Harry shrugged, and turned and walked out into the water wading as it got deeper. "Debatable. I definitely wasn't raised as a wizard. I'm more used to pain and discomfort. There was a time I thought there could be nothing more amazing than to be a wizard, right after I was told. But that was a long time ago." Draco frowned as he considered Harry's words, but his thoughts were interrupted as he followed Harry out into the water with a grunt. He couldn't restrain a shiver as he started to get deeper, "You weren't kidding about it being bloody cold!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my site on Tiendup! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/