To Fear a Fox

Summary: Draco knows there's something wrong. Something wrong with him. It starts with fevers and nightmares and within a few weeks, leads to unexplained behaviour and voices that just won't stay quiet. His carefully constructed life is slowly falling apart and the façade is starting to crack. Set during seventh year. HermionexDraco.

Rating: T. (May go up.)

Genre: Angst and Romance.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or any of the others mentioned in this fic. I write purely for entertainment and do not make money off this in any legal or illegal way.

Chapter 1: The Door.

Endless, narrow corridors, snow-white brightness, blood spatter patterns on the wall, ragged, shallow breathing, heart racing at break-neck speed, shadows, voices … Fear.

Draco stopped to catch what is left of his breath, placing both hands on his knees for support. His lungs and throat felt like it was on fire and his body's shaking was throwing him slightly off balance. He shot upright when he heard a soft voice, whispering… calling to him, telling him to come closer, to open it…

Slightly touching the wall, Draco began to walk into the brightness of the white corridor in the direction of the voice. After what felt like hours, he heard it again. Louder. He quickened his pace and the closer he got, the louder the voice became, until it reached the point where Draco had to cover his ears and his eyes, leaning against the wall for support as his blood started rushing and he felt like his head was about to split open. The whispers were now screams and yells, barks and cries, getting louder and louder and louder. Then, it stopped.

Opening his eyes slowly, Draco straightened up and blinked, taking in the image before him. A door. A wooden door. Oak, to be precise. He slowly reached out, his shaking hand closing in on the wooden knob. Just as his finger tips brushed against it, a crack suddenly exploded into the silent atmosphere as the door was roughly yanked open from the inside-

Draco shot upright in his bed and just on time managed to force his hand over his mouth, preventing him from crying out and waking up the whole Slytherin house and possibly the rest of Hogwarts as well. He stayed like that for a minute before he was suddenly remembered that he needs to breath. Unwrapping his trembling body from the tangled sheets was quite a mission and he barely had the strength to keep himself up.

After a few more minutes of struggling, he plopped back down and pulled the blanket over his head. That dream. It was the exactly like the rest, only this time he got closer, closer too seeing what's inside. Closer to seeing what it is that's taunting his mind, what it is that's calling him, telling him to come closer and open it. But no, it ended like the others, which is him closing his eyes in fear, forcing himself to wake up. Sometimes he curses himself for being his father's child. His cowardly, backbone-less, traitoress father. His hero.

The Slytherin Prince burned to know what's behind that door but, at the same time, felt absolutely terrified. He knew that the only way to find out was to not be afraid but the minute the voices start he immediately feels the paralyzing fear taking over his body from tip to toe and the only way out was to wake up. Why he felt so afraid, he didn't know. It was just a dream, after all, this isn't a Freddy Krueger horror movie. And if it was, he should go pick on the mudbloods and leave the purebloods alone.

Suddenly Draco felt a strange stir in his stomach and he clamped his hand over his mouth for the second time that morning. Luckily, he made it for the bathroom just in time. A voice in the back of his head, most likely the conscience he didn't have, told him that this was his punishment for thinking that Freddy should go bug the mudbloods.

He took a deep breath and leaned against the bathroom counter, blankly staring at his reflection in the mirror. He took in the image of himself and slightly flinched. Dark, black circles were visible under his now dull, grey eyes and he looked ashen. His fluffy, flaxen hair was standing up in two-hundred directions, giving him a type of rowdy look. His soft, velvety lips were an unhealthy blue shade and he was still trembling.

Sighing, the boy turned away from the mirror and slided down the counter, resting against it on icy cold floor. He thumped his head against the wood a few times in an attempt to clear his mind. When it didn't work, he increased the force until he felt pain. Thump… thump… thump….

''Malfoy? Are you okay?''

The voice made him jolt and he snapped his head towards the door. There stood Griffendor's most annoying and most intelligent(not like that was hard to achieve) girl, staring at him like he was some kind of retard. Her long brown hair was tied back in a low ponytail and she was wearing black and pink(juck) jogging gear. Her hands were resting on her hips and she tapped her right foot slightly while her she watched him with eyebrows quirked. Hermione Granger.

Suddenly Draco realised that he probably looked like an absolute fool, sitting here hitting his head against the bathroom counter at four in the morning. Upset that she caught him at this moment and annoyed that she sound 'caring', he decided that she needed a bit of a confident breaker.

''Hey Mudblood, when was the last time you shaved?''

She gasped, clearly shocked and self consciously touched her leg.

''For your information Malfoy, I shaved this morning!'' She snapped.

''I didn't mean your legs, I meant your beard!''

''Excuse me! Well-… well… At least I can grow one!''

And with that she chucked her i-pod at him and stormed out, leaving him stunned and injured when the i-pod hit him square in the eye. He cursed and held his eye.

''I can too grow a beard!... And a mustach!'' He yelled after her, even though he knew she wouldn't hear him and knew that he sounded childish. But surprisingly, her head popped back into the door and she sneered at him.

''Oh really? Well then what are you doing in the girl's lavatory?''

Draco rolled his eyes. ''I'm not in the girl's lavatory, I'm in the bathroom, duh! Damn you mudblood must be so stupid because of all the bad genes.''

Now Hermione was the one to roll her eyes. ''Look it up, dope!''

She turned on her heels and stormed away. Draco sat on the floor for another few minutes, trying to figure out whether she had just insulted him or not. He shrugged it off and jumped up, walking to the door to check the sign. Oops. There on the door, very obviously, was the symbol with the dress. Not to mention the big letters saying 'Girls' lavatory' on the top. No wonder it's so clean in there.

Checking the halls to make sure no one saw him, he slipped out and quickly made his way back to the Slytherin dorms, where he got his clothes and toothbrush and went to not-so-clean boy's "lavatory".

Suddenly he felt his day brighten up. He learned a new word, insulted Granger and gotten closer to the door in his dreams. And all that before breakfast! What a productive day. And now he has the whole boys bathroom to himself.

In front of the bathroom door he stopped. Why, he didn't know. Maybe because the door was closed. But that's nothing new since it always closed to prevent the wind from slamming it all day long. Maybe not the closed door, rather the fact that the closed door looks familiar. A wooden door. Oak, to be precise. He reached out and realised his hand was shaking and pulled it back again, shifting nervously. He resisted the urge to look behind him because he knew that would just ,make him paranoid. Well, no voices yet. Shaking the thought off, he determinedly reached for the door knob and just a his fingers brushed the wood…

''Stupid Malfoy! Bloody ,idiotic, annoying, retarded,self-centered prat!'' Hermione was walking down the hall, insulting the Slytherin Prince with various words, lyrics, verses and their synonyms while holding a small hand mirror and examining her face. No beard. Bloody asshole, she can't believed she threw him with her i-pod! Should've used a brick. Or a poisonous snake. He'll probably like the last one, they have a lot in common, she thought bitterly as she entered her dorm, plopping down on her bed and pulling the covers over her head.

After a while she began squirming. She was lying on something hard and uncomfortable. Sitting up irritated, she jumped out and yanked the sheet off only to freeze in place. On her mattress lied her i-pod, the one she just moments ago chucked at the possible Death eater's head.

''He brought it back?'' She whispered softly to herself. She picked it up and inspected it. It wasn't broken or anything. The earphones were neatly wrapped around it and even untangled. She smiled slightly at the thought full gesture but then remembered who it was who did this. Immediately her smile was replaced with a snarl and she dropped the i-pod like it was going to eat her or something. She eyed it suspiciously, wondering if there is some kind of curse on it that will cause her to lose all her hair or turn into a cat or worse, old. Picking it up with two fingers, she carefully dropped it into her drawer and then hopped back just in case it exploded. Nothing. She sighed and shrugged it off. She needed to get to Professor McGonagall's office anyway and a little voice in her head told her that it had something to do with the Head girl position.

The icy water from the cold shower was exactly what he needed to clear his head and can't believe that he didn't think of it sooner. The door episode from earlier was nothing but Paranoia from reading too much horror stories. So the door looked familiar. Why? Because it's a door. They all look the same. Nothing to get skittish about. Just a door. What's behind the door is a different story but that's only in his dreams. Their's just dreams. Images and thoughts flashing through the mind during a stage called rapid eye movement, which is the process of your eyes rolling around in their sockets during a-… Draco stopped in the middle of a thought, his hand resting on his chest. His breathing slowly increased and he glanced down again, moving his hand away. He realised that his sight didn't betray him. Right there, on the snowy skin of his chest, was five claw-like cuts. Almost as if someone had grabbed the front of his shirt and grazed his skin in the process…

''YES! I cant believe it! This is so amazing, I cant wait to tell my parents!'' Hermione squealed with delight and hopped up and down, clutching the letter against her heart while laughing happily. Harry pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her cheek.

''Congratulations, 'Mione! I'm sure you'll make a great Head girl!''

Ron joined the hug after he exclaimed 'Bloody hell' when she told them the great news. ''Yeah, that's my girl, Hogwarts's Head girl! The most intelligent and beautiful girl in the school. And my girlfriend.'' And with that he kissed her full on the lips.

She laughed. ''Oh you two! This is gonna be such a great year! And Ron, you're so gonna be Head boy, I just know it!''

Ron waved it away modestly but it was pretty obvious that he thought so too. Hermione laughed happily again and twirled around before grabbing Harry and Ron, dragging them to the library to get a book on Head girls.

Draco stood in front of Professor McGonagall's desk, his mouth slightly parted and his eyes wide.

''Excuse me? I'm Head boy? Why the hell- I mean, why on earth did you pick me! Umm, Ma'am.''

''You don't want to be Head boy, Mr Malfoy? Because I can always give the position to Mr, Weasley-''

''No, no, I want to, its just… I didn't really expect it.'' He admitted and looked down, finding the tip of his shoe very interesting. McGonagall smiled. ''Mr Malfoy, I'm certain that you would make an outstanding Head boy and keep this school's name high. After all, how could you not expect it? You have straight A's, mostly clean records, a strong personality and you're the best Seeker Slytherin ever had. ''

Draco looked up, half expecting her to say she's joking but she looked pretty serious so he forced himself to smile. ''Thank you professor. I will… try not to disappoint you.''

She smiled and nodded, dismissing him. Outside of her office he sighed and shook his head. He thought Dumbledore was the worst that could happen to this school but apparently he was wrong. McGonagall is. What was she thinking, appointing him as Head boy? Seems she lost more of her mind than he originally thought.

Wondering vaguely who the Head girl is, he walked down the hall and checked his watch, noting that its almost time for breakfast. He decided that he'll skip, seeing as his nausea had yet to go away plus he has quidditch practise and don't feel like losing his breakfast over the field. And if he does, he'll be sure to aim at Potter's head, he thought happily.

Growling softly to himself, Draco stopped and glared irritated at the bouncy Griffendor's, Granger. Great, she's happy. Probably because that runt of a Weasel gave her a love letter, considering the fact that she's clutching a envelope to her heart. Please.

He decided that it would be safer to turn and take the long way to the Great Hall to avoid her bumping into him and infecting him with some kind of Mudblood disease. After a few more minutes of walking, he stopped and pressed his hand against his chest. The cuts burnt like fire and was making it somewhat hard to breath. Ignoring the obvious fact that he had to get it checked up, he walked determinedly down the corridor, trying to block out the pain by thinking of insults to who ever the Head girl was. He was sure that it wasn't going to be someone he'd actually like. Well, if he can become Head boy then the chances are good that someone as unfit for the position as Pansy can become Head girl. She may be the girl he liked the most in Hogwarts but she still didn't fall under the 'acceptable'category.

Suddenly he slided to a stop, curious about what his room looked like. He spun around and stalked towards where he assumed the prefect's dorms are. Finally after a few minutes, Draco found a door with his name on. Literally. The golden letters shone brightly, even in the dim light and below his name, in capital letters, 'HEAD BOY'.

He smirked and went in. there was a big bed, a big closet, a big bathroom, a fireplace, a desk, a few bookshelves and a bowl with a fish.

''Not bad.'' He said to himself and smiled. The room was decorated in silver and gold and had a great view to. He walked over to the bathroom and went in. The bathroom was just as big and it was plain white. There was another door across the room so Draco figured he and the Head girl would be sharing. Great.

He walked to the door and opened it. The other room looked the same except it was decorated in red and gold. Gryffindor colours. Even better, he thought with a snarl and went to the bed. There were a few things unpacked, one of those things being a white i-pod. It looks exactly like Granger's, he thought and pushed the horrible thought that she might be Head girl away. Besides, her i-pod is still in the girl's "lavatory" and the earphones's cords were tangled. It must be some other Griffendor's. it wont be Granger. If they appointed him, they would pick someone just as unfit to lead as him. And as long as it's not a Mudblood, he couldn't care less who it is. He turned around and headed back to his own room where he fell face down on the bed and eventually fell asleep.

End of chapter 1.

A/N: There you go, first chapter finished. The update will be soon and not to worry, I will not neglect this story. Updates will mostly not take longer than a week and I am aiming for just about over twenty chapters. Please note that this is NOT a cross over. It only contains a character from a different show but nothing else. The character's name will only be used, as will his image. Not his personality nor his position in the show. Oh and please note that English isn't my first language, nor is it my second. But I will try my best and greatly appreciate any corrections or suggestions on my grammar and spelling. I would love to get feedback from all who read the story so that I can improve the next chapters as much as possible. The next update will most likely be he day after tomorrow if not earlier. Thank you for taking your time to read my story.

FanFictionFox49