I'll try not to make this too much like the other Harry/Draco fics. I hope you like it, and please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but teasing and insults will break my fragile spirit and I will go into the bathroom and slit my wrists. Seriously. Really. Yeah.
Anyways, on with the story.
Chapter 1- Demons
Harry awoke. When his blurry vision cleared, he found himself in a room that was not his. But he had just awoken, and a strange calm came over him, like the ominous silence before the storm. And then, like a clap of thunder through the dark sky, the pain hit him. The pressure engulfed his skull and shot down his body. He bit his lip, and could barely keep from writhing with pain. He gasped, the horrible pressure pushing the air from his lungs, suffocating him. His gasp awoke the sleeping form next to him, who quickly jumped out of bed and hurriedly put on clothes. She ran out of the room to Madame Pomfrey's. Breathless, she tried to explain what was going on. The girl was so frightened, and babbling something about seizures and god knows what else. Madame Pomfrey slapped the girl, who trembled.
"Just take me to him," Madame Pomfrey said in a soothing voice.
The girl grabbed the larger hand and led her to her room. Harry was still there, shaking, moaning, tossing and turning, holding his head and shouting to the voices to stop screaming.
Madame Pomfrey had seen this case once before.
"Girl, you were right to come to me. Go get Professor Snape, quick. And if he mumbles about being awoken out of his sleep, tell him I'll poison the very air he breathes."
The girl nodded, obeying not the woman, but just her eyes that burned with concern and determination. She ran from the room, and Madame Pomfrey sprinted to the boy's side. Torrents of sweat poured down his flesh, rippling over muscles, that pooled in the fabric of his bedclothes. He was delirious, screaming at something only he could see. She threw the bedclothes off of him, and stared in amazement. The boy kept grasping the air, shedding tears of frustration.
"Why do they come? Why are they shouting at me?" Harry cried.
Then Professor Snape hurried in, and took in the sight before him. The girl began to weep. Harry thrashed about his bed, his eyes darting about, following the demons who taunted him.
"Stupefy!" yelled Snape as he pointed his wand at Harry. No luck. Whatever it was that held Harry was too powerful for a simple spell.
Minutes later, a team of five professors struggled to get Harry onto a stretcher. They bound him magically, and Harry tried to bite through the invisible ties, trying to escape the horrors of his mind. Snape levitated him to the Infirmary, where they set him down gently on a cot. The thrashing had stopped. Harry hugged his knees, and shook. The demons still haunted him. They danced on his brain until it was a mush of nightmares and illusions.
"W- why do they do this to me? Go away! Leave me alone!" He swatted the air above his head. He sobbed. When Snape came with a vial of a steaming, deep crimson liquid, he screamed.
"Who are you? Are you one of them? What did I do?"
The professors held the shaking boy down as Snape poured the liquid down his throat. The demons disappeared. But the cold, the pressure, was still there. They fed him a sleeping potion next, and the boy drifted into a fitful sleep. He dreamed of cold, dark places. He shivered constantly, no matter how many blankets or warmth spells they put on him. The pressure cracked his skull. He was slipping away. Sliding down a bitter slope of pain and suffering. Then, he felt a thread of warmth. He barely caught it, and grasped it, and with the last bit of his draining strength, he held onto it. The shivering, the constant cold, stopped. Lava flowed through his veins. His heart beat slowed down, his skull mended. He was so tired...he was sleeping awake. In his dreams, he settled onto a fluffy cloud, and really slept. The worst was over...the demons couldn't reach his floating cloud.
"I didn't think he would make it...I thought he would freeze to death. It was horrible to watch. His lips were purple and his skin was so pale...it's like you could see right through it." Madame Pomfrey rubbed her temples. It had been a long night for her too.
Dumbledore nodded. He touched the sleeping boy's face. Traces of the cold that once controlled him were still there.
"Do you know...what happened? Why he was so cold?"
Madame Pomfrey sighed. "Severus and I came to the conclusion that the boy had swallowed the Demon Elixir. It causes hallucinations, mostly, and usually doesn't get much worse than that...taken by itself.
"What makes it so deadly is it's reaction with alcohol...not only does one hallucinate, but uncontrollably sweating begins. It's like being intolerably cold and hot at the same time. The elixir multiplies the potency of the alcohol, and...even one sip causes a headache double the extremity of a normal hangover.((Is there a more eloquent term than that?)) Harry had more than one sip...the pressure almost killed him."
((Sorry if I'm boring you...I'm longing to write fluff, but I can't bring myself to. Please don't stop reading...it will be less intense later.))
"When will he come to?" Dumbledore asked, hoping for good news.
"It depends...Harry is a strong boy...he should come back soon. He just needs rest."
Dumbledore couldn't understand...who would want to do this to Harry? Sure, he had enemies...but Demon Elixir was so elusive, not even a student with ties deep within the black market could acquire it. Bottling a banshee's scream...it was the key to the Demon Elixir. Dumbledore would worry about that later...right now, it would be a miracle if Harry awoke before the year ended.
Miracles. They flowed to Harry Potter from Fate just as a river flowed to the ocean. Harry awoke in a daze just a week later, still tired, still slightly cold, still confused. His blurred vision cleared. Oh no, he screamed in his head. This is when they will come again.
But they never came, and he sighed. He blinked, and Madame Pomfrey caught his eye. She came to him.
"You are an amazing boy Harry Potter. Someone somewhere is looking out for you."
Harry thought of his parents, and all of his loved ones someplace else. They were looking out for him. They wanted him to succeed as much as he did. He whispered thank you to the spirits that followed him. A cool breeze caressed him before he fell into another sleep. He knew they had heard him.
Another week later, a skinnier, slightly paler Harry Potter left the Infirmary. It was about time. He missed his lifestyle...even if it was a somewhat...questionable one. He entered the Great Hall to the stares and whispers of Hogwarts' populace. He paid them no mind...he was too hungry to care what they said. He sat down at the Gryffindor table, and turkey and mashed potatoes arose before him. He shoveled food into his mouth unceremoniously, as the rest of his table watched in fascination. The girl who had saved him two weeks before ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh Harry, I'm so glad you are well. I was so worr-"
Harry shrugged off her embrace, and she stood next to him, confused.
"Harry, I saved you. I care about you. Don't you care about me?" She asked pathetically.
Finally showing some propriety, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and sighed.
"Thanks for saving me and everything, but it was...just a one-night stand, you know? I didn't mean to go so far to let you think that I...wanted anything more from you."
"So the gossips are right!" she yelled.
"You are just the playboy, the slut of Hogwarts. Fine, live in your world of one-night stands. But don't think that anyone will ever make the mistake of going to bed with you again. The word will spread."
She started to cry, and she ran out of the Great Hall.
Ron clasped his friend's shoulder and said, "Don't worry mate...she's a nutter...and she's been one hell of a bitch to us..." Hermione nodded.
"I wasn't going to dwell one minute over it," Harry replied.
Seamus and Dean grinned. "So, time to find a new conquest, eh Harry?" Seamus asked.
"I think even I deserve a break."
"Not if those girls have anything to do about it," Hermione said.
Every single girl around the room stole a glance at him, with a hunger in their pretty little blue eyes. You could see it...in the hall, girls were ready to pounce.
Harry sighed. "I don't understand my allure. Why can't they just leave me alone."
This reminded him of the demons, and he shivered.
"Are you all right mate?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." he drifted away into his own little world of comforting clouds.
He came to when he saw everyone leaving. He tried to blend with the crowd, but girls were inching closer, giggling. He pushed his way through the crowd and ran through the halls blindly. Eventually, the inevitable happened...he crashed into someone.
((I wonder whom?????))
Harry got up quickly, hoping to leave before the other boy degraded him. He was in no mental or physical state to fight.
"Looks like it's time for Potter to get some new glasses," Draco said coldly. "At least it will be when I'm done with you." ((That was incredibly lame...I know.))
"Malfoy, can't you wait at least a day to start something? I know you get some sick pleasure out of this...but just leave me alone."
Harry pushed past Draco and continued down the hall to the Gryffindor Tower. Draco brushed himself off...to some, it was sick pleasure....to him, it was what he needed to make it through his school years.
I hope you like it so far...it's not completely unique yet...but I've got something in mind. Please review...I won't waste my time with other chapters unless I get at least some feedback, negative or positive, from you guys. Thanks for reading this much...
