Paralyze
By Dana A. Malfoy
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Draco/Pansy, Blaise/Ginny, Harry/Hermione
Summary: Draco and Pansy are actually vampires and only together can they survive the perilous dangers waiting to reveal there secret. Only Snape and Dumbledore know, but can they keep the secret safe for long?
Disclaimer: All belongs to Jo, 'cept for the plot and any unfamiliar characters, places, and creatures. No profit is being made off of this story.
Author's Notes: Draco and Pansy are totally fanon in this story by means of looks and appearance, but they are pretty much canon by their attitudes and personalities.
All turns to hell, they say.
Smoke rises from the cold earth.
Crows fly away like cowards.
They all stare in shock.
As you wonder why stacks of wood are being built around you.
A stake aimed at your heart.
Others are screaming in the terror of your ugly face.
You mutter the haunting word: "Crucio".
And they all fall dead because they are so weak.
Inside your head, you're screaming.
But when you open your own eyes…
All they are doing is just staring back.
Waiting.
Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick.
Prologue: In The Cathedral
He pulled down the hood of his long, dark cloak as he stared up, fascinated by a statue of a wizard clutching an orb in his left hand and gripping a long sword in the other. "Come on, Draco! We have to leave! Do you want them to catch us here -- in a church?" Pansy urgently whispered, as she tugged on his black, velvety sleeve.
"You wonder how he ever did it," Draco mumbled, still standing amazed by the lifeless statue. "Merlin…"
"Draco, we're vampires. I think Merlin could have cared less--" Pansy muttered.
"--Cared less? He was the creator of the vampire and vampiress, mind you."
"Draco, we're still in a sanctuary of worship. All vampires worship are their luck at hunting down a mortal and ceasing the opportunity to feast upon the blood of that mortal, and keeping way of mirrors, crosses, and stakes. So can we please just leave now! I'm getting chills up my spine from this place…" Pansy whined.
"Well, if it hadn't been for that damn Zabini, we wouldn't be in this whole mess and we'd actually be able to rest our feet for a moment's time," Draco gritted.
"You know it wasn't Blaise's fault, Draco," Pansy assured rather calmly. With a sigh, Draco shadowed his ashen face once more with the heavy hood of his cloak and proceeded up the aisle, past all of the beautiful oak benches.
"Then why are we running from them, Pansy? You tell me that." Draco looked over his shoulder at her as he continued his paces up the aisle way. But Pansy just stood still, gazing hopefully at him as he strode away from her. "Come on…" Pansy sighed and started her own paces up the aisle to where Draco was waiting for her by the door.
Chapter One: Venomous
Draco put the small box to his ear, shaking it roughly. Growling, he put in down and walked over to his desk. He reached for a drawer and pulled it open, taking out a quill, an inkbottle, and a piece of parchment. Then heslammed it closed, setting all these items on the top of the desk.
His neck was itching terribly and he scratched at it as hard as he could with his sharp nails, but only made it worse with a little sting resting on the surface of his skin. Examining his fingertips, he noticed blood had stained them, but he was too frustrated to care at the moment.
Shaking the box again, he then stared at the green ribbon wrapped around it, keeping it imprisoned. So he pulled it untied, slipped off the lid, and lifted out asilver chain with a sort of glass container full of a dark, liquidy substance trapped inside of it. The container was shaped like a fang tooth.
It had come from his distant cousin on his father's side. Fredrick really loved potions of any kind. Draco knew he would have fancied Snape's teaching of potions, but he had been enrolled to Durmstrang, where Draco disappointedly did not because of his worrying mother.
A little piece of parchment had been folded and put into the petite box. Draco pulled that out too and read it over twice.
Draco, this is real snake venom from a cobra mixed with a bit of Rosemary and a pinch of blessed sand from the Romanian deserts where the dragons dwell and roam. I had recently been there in Romania and had received it from a potion's seller. He claimed that it could mend broken bones, damage one's eyes so they bled, and suck the poison from a vampire's mark if it is within two hours young. It's pretty amazing, isn't it? Value this. This stuff is very rare in Europe!
Your Cousin,
Fredrick H. Malfoy.
Draco could not believe it. Real snake venom. He attached the chain around his neck and lifted the bottle of venom to eye level and marveled over it until a certain house-elf had interrupted his daze. "Master Draco,MistressNarcissasent me."
"What for?" Draco snapped at the hunched house-elf.
"Dinner, Young Master Draco.Kreacher's sure it'll be the same…just the same, old silence. Just the way Kreacher likes it." Draco rolled his eyes. He's worst than Dobby, Draco thought. Ever since Kreacher found refuge at the Malfoy Manor, he'd been put to work by one of his old master's children and he did not even complain once. But that was not the only reason why he was there; he was there on a very dark account and purpose.
Kreacher started dusting Draco's desk when he finally noticed what Draco was gaping at. "What is that, Kreacher wonders?" Kreacher continued dusting, but stared Draco's way. Draco growled again.
"Nothing, Kreacher… And will you just get out of my room? I don't need it cleaned for the thousandth time! You were just in here yesterday! Probably snooping through my possessions…"He eyed Kreacher ominously.
"Don't be silly, Young Master Draco. Now why would Kreacher do such a thing?" he asked, smiling folly, his eyes twitching.
"…Because you're mad," Draco mumbled. A critical expression drew upon Kreacher's face and he sighed in an almost relieving way. He had thoughtthat Draco was going to say something else.Kreacher set back to work on now dusting the bookshelves fixed to the wall, hovering over Draco's desk.
"WILL YOU GET?" he shouted at Kreacher. But before he could say anything else, an owl abruptly swooped into the bedroom through the open window, glided swiftly around Kreacher's head, who was now cackling with fright, and landed gracefully upon Draco's outstretched arm. "Hello, Maroe," Draco greeted soothingly to his Eagle Owl, gently stroking his feathers with the back of his forefinger. The owl hooted and made a clicking noise with its mouth, then stuck out its leg to a piece of parchment tied to it.
After unlacing the thread and taking the roll of parchment from Maroe, the bird flew off over Kreacher's ducked head and onto a black post near Draco's Victorian dresser.
Meet me tonight at the gate. I need to speak with you, Draco Malfoy. Do not come until the sun has completely set. Do you understand? And do not keep me waiting.
That wasall the note read. Draco examined it through and through while hypothesizing whom the note might be from. But with all the pride and stubbornness that his father made him consume, either waynothing could stop him from meeting this anonymous stranger. He didn't know though, how he'd sneak out of the manor without the gargoyles guarding the doors, his mother guarding the front hallway for her library was right next to it, and the house-elves scurrying about the house like mad trying to clean themanor before dawn rose.
"Kreacher, get out of my bedroom. I'm locking it up." Draco had no time to wait for the oddball as he kept his arms locked over his head, still trembling from Maroe swooping in over his head. Draco pulled them apart and dragged Kreacher out of the bedroom and into the dim-lit hallway.
With the fang-shaped necklace still wrapped snug around his irritated-skinned neck, Draco pulled out his black wand and muttered a spell. Suddenly, a white ghostly shield flashed and hit thedoor like a bomb, instantly vanishing beneath the wooden surface of it.
"Do not touch that Kreacher!" Draco commanded. "You could severely burn your hand, especially if you touch the doorknob at all. Besides, you shouldn't bloody be snooping around in my bedroom anyway." He gave Kreacher a sneer before heading down the long staircase to the first floor of the roomy manor. Kreacher stared sharply at the back of Draco's head as if he was expecting him to turn around and charge at him if he moved a foot, but Draco never did. Sighing, Kreacher mumbled curses under his breath and proceeded into the master bedroom to clean up the dust…and the dirt.
--&
Plates clattered carefully onto the tall, glass dining table. Narcissa, with a smug expression on her face was already seated at the far end of the table. Just as little house elves had finished with setting the table with the small variety of foods on the surface of it, Draco seated himself next to his mother so they were diagonal to each other. He stopped though when he noticed a small creature was sitting across from him already snacking on a plate of mashed potatoes.
"Mother?" Draco asked, bewildered.
"Yes, dear?"
"Exactly why is there a goblin sitting at the table?"
"Just ignore him, Draco."
But Draco couldn't ignore him. This goblin was different compared to other goblins that he'd seen before. It was small yes, like those at Gringott's Wizarding Bank, but it had the feature of a younger goblin, almost like a little child: chocolate colored hair, huge brown eyes, a petite, wide nose, and its head capped by an odd, maroon beret. Its skin was pretty tan too. The goblin's feet were dangling off of the chair as he was propped up tall by a set of gold and black, velvet cushions.
"What's its name?"
"Durin," Narcissa spoke shortly.
"Durin? …What kind of a name is that?"
"A name for a goblin… Now Draco, just eat your supper, will you, please?" A few of the manor's cats were rubbing their soft coats of fur against Draco's legs. It was irritating him, so he pushed them away with his feet. A black one in particular hissed under its breath at him. The cats weren't the other things irritating him though. The fact that his mother was letting a completely strange goblin eat at their table was not correct nor was the scabbing rash upon his neck, just becoming worse. But it did not cease Narcissa from noticing it. She gasped in shock.
"Draco, dear, what happened to your neck?"
"I don't know!" he snapped, annoyed at his mother. "It was there when I woke up a few days ago. I've tried every potion I could think of and have searched for, but it just will not go away."
"What's that around your neck? Ooh, a new necklace. How many of those do you possess now, Draco?"
"None that don't control me…"
"Where'd you get it?" Narcissa asked, ignoringher son's remark andsetting down her fork on the golden plate to examine the necklace.
"Fredrick sent it through his owl while Maroe was away hunting."
"Fredrick? Fredrick Malfoy? Your cousin?" Narcissa asked, astonished. "Wow, I don't believe I've seen that boy since he was a mere, young child." Narcissa was twiddling with thesilver chain and had finally come to the glass fang tooth carrying the prized ingredient. "What's this?"
"Cobra venommixed with a bit of rosemary and a pinch of sand from Romania." Durin had finally glanced up at this point, marveling at the now visibly small, glass container.
"How did Fredrick receive such a thing?" Narcissa questioned, curiously, letting go of the fang tooth and returning to her plate.
"From a potion's seller," Draco proclaimed, not noticing that Durin had suddenly slipped out of his seat and under the dining table. "Said its rare in Europe. Rare…" Draco snorted. "It's probably illegal for all we know!"
"No. I don't think so, Draco. My great aunt collected a library of rare potions and she had rights to have ownership of them. In fact, I believe I still have a few of them resting on my vanity. They're makeup potions."
"Of course, Mother. Everything is makeup to -- ah! Bloody hell!" Draco yelled. His fork clattered onto his plate and Narcissa gave a little jump before a small giggle slipped out of her mouth for Durin was climbing up Draco until he had crouched into his lap and was now examining Draco's collar, curious eyed. Without warning, the little goblin had snatched the silverchain off of Draco's neck and hopped off of his lap, running under the table once more as Draco tried grabbing for his tail in which he had no idea Goblin's had tails. Draco disappointingly had missed and soon enough Durin was crawling up a tall, dazzling grandfather clock with the fang still dangling on the chain now held in the sneaky goblin's hands.
"Damn wart of a thing!" Draco cursed at Durin as Narcissa was in a fit of cackling giggles. "How can youshow such pity towards such an animal?" Draco yelled.
"How can'tyou?"
"I mean, he's like every other slave creature in this hell of place -- like the house-elves for example!"
"…Because he is the only thing that will listen to me now a days and I was sure getting sick and tired of talking to my reflection the whole while of time, so don't talk to me about pity over this creature, Draco Lucifer Malfoy because I do not have the patients for it right now what with your father in prison and trying every moment of my life to figure out how to get him out of that dreadful cage!" Narcissa snapped at her son all in one breath.
"Sorry, Mother," Draco meekly apologized.
--&
By the time dinner was over, Narcissa had gotten Durin to give back Draco's necklace. After that, Draco had stomped up to his bedroom once again like a selfish, stubborn child until Narcissa's voice echoed up the tall stairway.
"Draco! Someone's waiting for you in the garden out back!" Draco growled out loud and stomped back down the stairs, down the narrow hallway covered in portraits of the family and of Malfoy ancestors as a faint lightshined upon the walls, casting a light shadow behind Draco.As hestepped out into the brightly lit garden full of all colors of roses, lilies, hollyhocks, violet zinnias, red and white rhododendrons, and peonies, Draco shielded his eyes and gazed around at all the green beauty that his mother marveled over, until he spotted a lean, pale figure sitting hunched on a stone bench next to a statue of an angel, parts of its wings chipped as well as its dress, arms, legs, and face.
"Theodore?" Draco whispered to the blond-haired gentleman silently sitting there, the sunlight glowing against his pale skin.
"Draco."
"Why are you here? How did you even get here? I thought your father was in Azkaban," Draco said in a rush.
Theodore, though spoke slowly and quietly, "He is. I walked here. I mean I don't know how to apparate, even though I am terribly frightened to and I don't possess a broom, though I'm quite afraid of heights, too..." Draco was used to Theodore Nott; his shakiness, his quiet voice, his intelligent sense of vocabulary, his slim, pale figure compared to Draco's developing, muscular one, and his lack of humor, let alone him being a clever bookworm. He's worse than Granger, was Draco's first thought of Theodore when he met him for the first time in the same, exact garden. Both of their fathers would meet for council at the Malfoy Manor about the weights of the world and Draco would have to deal with Theodore and talk with him until they left.
"Why are you here then?"
"Draco…" Theodore muttered, his eyes becoming wide in what Draco thought was fear, "I had a dream last night about something very dreadful!"
"What was it Theodore?" Draco sat down next to him on the bench, an expression ofcuriosity inhis eyes.
"A…" Theodore hesitated at this point. Draco almost thought he was going to be sick, the way he looked so white in the face. "…A massacre. Draco, blood was everywhere. I tried waking up, but I couldn't. I was so afraid that the reason why I wasn't waking was because it was real. I mean it surely seemed real… Everything was in great detail. And dreams and nightmares aren't usually vivid. But was it? I asked myself when I eventually did open my eyes. Maybe it was a vision, you know like of the future." Draco sighed and rubbed his eyes. Theodore had come all this way to explain a nightmare he encountered that happened to be so vividly clear?
"Theodore…maybe it was nothing at all. Maybe it was just a common nightmare. People have them, you know. It's all right to!" Draco assured. But Theodore cut in, shaking his head.
"Draco, then would you like me to explain what I saw in that massacre?" His tone was sharper and becoming a little louder, Draco noticed. But to his own surprise, he nodded. Theodore sighed deeply. "A sorrowful crowd of people gathering around a wooden platform. Two people were bound tightly to two posts; branches and bundles of wood were surrounding their bare feet. The crowd was shouting at these two human beings. Only -- they weren't human beings, Draco… They were vampires." Draco's eyes widened. He then remembered the venom. It could heal a vampire bite if it was within two hours young. "Draco, the only problem was…one of the vampires…was you."
--&
The sun had finally set and night fell over the world like a blanket over a weary child. Draco remembered the note he had received earlier that day and slipped it into the back pocket of his black jeans. Slipping on a thin white t-shirt for the air was warm tonight, Draco shushed Maroe from hooting so much, locked his bedroom door from the inside, then strode over to the opened window, climbed out, and proceeded down the ivy fence embraced to the black stone wall of the manor. As soon as his feet had touched solid ground, Draco carefully crept around to the front of the house, past the long porch, and down the hilly driveway to the iron entrance gate below. He tried staying out of the moonlight and more in the shadows, just in case any mortal eye was watching.
When Draco reached the gate, no one was to be seen. Maybe he was early, he thought. Unlatching the gate, he managed to push the heavy bars ajar and stepped out of the property of the manor and closing the gate slightly shut, Draco waited...
But, he didn't have to wait for long. A cold breeze suddenly came and chilled Draco's sheer skin. Breathing could faintly be heard and then--
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco whipped around. A skinny, beautiful figure stood in the moonlight, wrapped in a black, silk cloak and was leaning up against a tall, stone wall. "Pansy?" Draco asked, surprised.
"Mm, look at you. Only three months and you've already made yourself look reasonable. Look at that chest…" Pansy said, checking out Draco's muscular figure. Draco smirked. Taking the piece of paper from his back pocket, he revealed it and read it aloud to Pansy.
"So…was this you, then?" He asked. Pansy nodded, smiling. She still hadn't moved from the stone wall. "What do you need to speak with me for?"
"Oh, not really speak with you. …Just breathe with you." A seductive grin drew upon Pansy's face. She finally started stepping towards Draco in slow strides. He stood still, but was starting to feel a little awkward.
"What do you mean breathe?" Pansy ignored this though. She had finally come face to face with her obsession. Her dark pupils were exact with his and he could free the warmth of her breath on his neck.
"Draco, wouldn't you like to spend a life of immortality where you could always look beautiful, handsome…young. A life so pure that not even crows would disturb the peace…because they'd be fast asleep." Draco just stared at her quizzically. "You feel this rash on your neck?" Pansy asked, reaching up to hold it. Draco closed his eyes tight as he felt the brush of her cold hand on it and he reached up as well to warm her own hand up. "I could make this vanish completely, no scar, no pain, no rash. Nothing. Come. Come away with me, Draco. I love you. I need you. I smell you from miles away. I breathe you…Breathe me, too. Feel my pain."
"You're not acting yourself, Pansy…" Draco muttered.
"Oh, but I am, Draco Lucifer Malfoy…" Suddenly a gaze crept between the two and Pansy leaned up to kiss Draco's ear. And without warning, a sharp pain sunk into the skin of his neck upon his itching rash. He could feel himself bleeding. Everything was going blurry and he felt dizzy. Just then, a dark echo screeched into his ear and he collapsed onto the cement by the gate. Pansy wiped away every speck of blood off of her mouth by licking her lips and teeth and devouring Draco's blood like sweet candy. The last words that Draco could faintly hear were, "…I am."