Thanks for the reviews!

Thank you Faqeera, Phentian, Will of Hounds, TMarvoloRiddle1944, and Mikurocks1234. It always makes me really happy to see familiar faces who review each chapter and it's a pleasant surprise to see new ones! I love and appreciate you guy so much, thank you for being lovely!

For everyone reading, I love you also! (But just a tad less than the people above ; )

****The first POV of this story is a little unpleasant, but I wanted to acquaint you all with how I picture vampires. Tom has given all vampires a rap for being emotional and broody, so I wanted to show you the comparison. *** I am quite sorry for the first scene, but the rest of the chapter will be much more pleasant, I assure you.

I noticed that I am developing Harry/Draco probably a tad more than I should be but don't worrying Tom/Harry fans: its slow coming but will be worth it!

Anyways, here is chapter 4!

Chapter 4:

Tonks was sure she was dead.

Death didn't feel peaceful though, it felt painful and cold.

Everything was black and cold as ice, her head throbbed with a dull ache and her throat felt like sandpaper. Her whole body was burning, and it felt like someone had poured hot led into her veins, poisoning her slowly. She flexed her muscles tentatively and felt rope around her ankles and wrists; that's good, they wouldn't tie up someone who was dead.

But who were 'they'?

Tonks clenched her eyes shut and tried to remember what had happened. She had finished an interview with the owner of the tavern/ Inn that Twycross was murdered outside, trying to figure out what had gotten the man to go to Little Whinging in the first place. Wilkie had no business going to the small village that was had no significance what-so-ever, he had no family there or ministry business to attend to. Tonks had researched the village but found nothing of significance recently, a wizard had murdered a muggle family there but that was decades and decades ago.

When Tonks had spoken to the Inn owner, she hadn't gotten any worthwhile answers. Twycross had only just arrived not long before he died and had stated that he was visiting there for personal reasons and would most likely be gone before dark. But he wasn't, he left the tavern that evening, and they hadn't found his body until the morning after, torn apart in the street with that strange symbol.

Tonks had been getting ready to leave Little Whinging when she had been knocked out from behind. She was leaving the Tavern and hadn't noticed anyone behind her, she hadn't felt or even sensed anything at all until the pain. Whoever had snuck up on her most definitely was not human, but her and Sirius had already known that. She worried her lip thinking of her lover, and how worried he must be for her.

Not the type to sit back and wait for rescue, she felt the floor and wall behind her with her fingers, noticing that it was cold damp stone. She must be in a basement, that would explain the complete blackout darkness. Feeling around her for anything sharp, she could only find the smooth stone, she would have to work her hands free. Her Auror training had taught her for situations like this, but she needed time in order to free herself and she wasn't sure how much she had.

"You're awake."

Shudders went down Tonk's spine as a clear hiss pierced the darkness, cold and dark and hungry. She tried to memorize how it sounded, so she could identify her assailant but as soon as she heard it, it passed through her mind and she couldn't remember what it sounded like. She couldn't even determine if the voice was male or female, it was like trying to remember a dream after long waking up.

She strained her eyes, trying to make out a figure in the darkness but couldn't see anything. She struggled so she was sitting on her knees, hoping to get into the lead vulnerable position she could while talking to a shadow.

"We were wondering if we had perhaps killed you, it would be a pity." Tonks felt the lightest of touches brush her neck, where the skin was throbbing. It felt like cold mist brushing over her, gone before she had noticed it was there.

Tonks held back a flinch and straightened her back, hiding her fear with as much strength as she could muster. "I can't imagine you would have much of an issue killing me, only so you could tear me apart before I die." She pictured the crime scene they had left, and a shudder passed through her.

"Dear, Nymphadora, I am disappointed. I had heard what promising Aurors you and your partner have become but you still don't understand." This voice came from directly in front of her, maybe a foot or two away. It was softer but still hungry, but this hiss sounded genuinely saddened. A pang of guilt went through her, inexplicably she was angry with herself for disappointing the monster before her. She shook her head, recognising the compulsion.

"I'm not a Death-Eater, so I'm not your target." Tonks ground out, clenching her jaw to stop herself from losing to the compulsion.

She felt the mist-like touch graze her cheek and she twisted her head away. The murderer was close enough for Tonks to smell them, and her senses were assaulted with the scent of rot and decay. She was extremely cold, coldness emanating from the being before her. She felt herself becoming dizzy from the mere presence of the being so close to her and her stomach started sinking as she was starting to realize what creature she was dealing with.

Eyes appeared before her, deep crimson filled with hunger and insanity. They bore into her and Tonks found herself unable to control her own body, unable to look away from the eyes that were drawing closer to her. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that a second pair was regarding her from further away.

"They deserved what they got!" The voice hissed angrily, the crimson eyes narrowed. "They abandoned our Lord, they lied and renounced him. They were filth, they were cowards and should have died for him. We fixed their sins; their deaths were in service of him."

Tonks suppressed a shudder, the voice filled with lust when talking about Voldemort. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You can't serve him, he's dead. He isn't here to receive your service."

She felt what must have been a hand caress her face, feeling like mist. The hiss dropped lower, and Tonks had to strain to hear what the figure said. "He may be dead, but that doesn't mean he's gone. We're here aren't we?" They ended in a laugh that sounded like a snake regurgitating a meal.

"You're vampires." It wasn't a question, Tonks had become very sure of that fact.

"Nymphadora, there may be hope for you after all." The vampire laughed and brushed a finger along her collarbone.

Tonks felt adrenaline rush through her and she wanted to tear herself from her bonds and rush out of the basement as fast as her legs could carry her, but she knew that was impossible. Vampires were exceedingly rare, but she had learned of them briefly in Auror training and she knew she wouldn't be able to escape unless the vampires allowed her to go.

"What do you want?" Tonks wasn't sure why she was asking because she definitely didn't want to know. They were evidently insane, worshipping a monster that had perished over fifteen years ago.

That earned a cold laugh from the vampire further away, a sound like a hurt bird. "That's a very open question. What you should be worried about most is what we want to do with you." The vampire's voice was a hiss but slightly weaker than the one that stood before Tonks, somewhat softer and maybe less insane.

"If you wanted to just kill me," Tonks managed to shut her eyes and take a deep breath of courage before continuing, "then you would have already done it. You want something from me."

The ghastly breath of the vampire before her brushed across her face and served to make Tonks weak and dizzy, "That's my girl." And before Tonks knew what was happening lips came down upon hers.

It wasn't quite a kiss, it was more an assault of her mouth and Tonks felt like retching. The vampire's lips were cold as ice and tasted like death and copper, but the thrall emanating from the creature was making her weak and she was sure she would pass out at any point. She used her remaining strength to throw herself away and fell against the wall behind her, shivers wracking her form. She still couldn't determine if they were male or female, or even what their voices sounded like.

Both vampires were before her, faster than she could believe, their crimson eyes hungry. It was too much, even for a trained Auror. Tonks felt like a mouse a cat had begun devouring alive, and nothing in her past years as an Auror had trained her for the feeling. She felt herself beginning to give in to the fear and despair, and knew she needed to escape before all her strength left her.

"Nymphadora, you don't need to fight us." Tonks wasn't sure which one was talking to her, and she kept her head down. She had curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around her knees. She felt the bonds on her wrists and ankles fall and her muscles sagged. She wrapped herself tighter in a ball, trying to hold onto what strength she had left.

"You're not like the others, you don't need to die. We can give you a gift." One of the vampires, the one that kissed her she suspected, guided her head up and forced her to look into its eyes and she felt tears well up in hers.

Tonks had learned about a vampire's thrall, about the compulsion that was stronger than the imperious curse, that had made willing participants out of the victims, but it was entirely different when facing it in person. With all her might, Tonks fought the compulsion that forced her to uncurl and move towards the monsters before her. She struggled against the fog that was beginning to cloud her head as the vampires seemed to wrap her up in blankets of cold darkness.

The darkness wasn't so scary anymore, she began to feel herself calm down. The coldness wasn't there anymore either, replaced by warmth and happiness as they embraced her. The stench of death and decay no longer permeated the air, replaced with the smell of toast when Sirius would bring her breakfast in bed. Tonks was so relaxed that she didn't notice when her head tilted back, and she didn't feel it when two sets of fangs dug their way into her throat on either side.

She was in a cocoon of ecstasy, cradled in the arms of loved ones who only wanted pleasure for her. It was ridiculous to fear them, to fear this, or to want to leave. This was the best Tonks had felt in her life, and she wanted the pair before her to feel the same as her, she wanted to please them. Her entire world narrowed down on the rivets of pleasure flowing through her and if she wasn't so lost in the pleasure she would hear her own wonton moans as an orgasm wracked through her.

Tonks had never wanted something more than this in her whole life, and at that moment, she knew she would do anything for those bringing her this pleasure. She would have to bring Sirius, so he could understand-

Sirius.

Thoughts of her lover flooded through her, pulling her from the fog filling her head. She became acutely aware of where she was and what was happening. The smell of toast had turned back to that of rotting flesh, the coldness was there, and the darkness was still terrifying but there was something else: the pain.

The pain coming from where the leaches were draining her was excruciating, she wanted to tear herself away from them. She felt dirty. She felt tainted, and bile rose in her stomach. Her Auror instincts kicked in and she kept her body relaxed, giving the monsters no reason to suspect she had thrown off their compulsion. She felt for her wand and luckily, they hadn't taken it.

Tonks tightened her grip on her wand and cast a spell to protect her eyes wandlessly, the vampires mistaking it for a moan. She wasn't sure how long she had been down in the basement, but her eyes would need time to adjust to the light.

Tonks felt relief as the monsters had drunk their fill and were leaning away from her, reveling the feeling of emptiness by her neck. She allowed herself to sag back against the wall, as if they had taken away all her energy. She wasn't sure what the vampires were doing but they were certainly distracted for the moment being.

Tonks focused all her thoughts on the only vampire-repelling spell she knew, which hopefully she could muster enough strength to use. She was beginning to become magically exhausted after losing so much of her life force to the creatures before her. She practiced the spell over and over in her mind.

"Nymphadora, you need not to die. Become one of us, and you can have eternal life. You can feel that pleasure every day for eternity." One of the vampires, the stronger one, was leaning over her and speaking in, what she could only assume, was supposed to be a seductive tone. If Tonks hadn't shaken off the thrall, she would have agreed if for no other reason than pleasing the monsters before her.

The thought disgusted her profusely, she would rather die than become a monster.

Sensing her hesitation, the vampire leaned towards her and brushed a finger across her bite marks. "I abhor the thought of killing family, after all."

Tonk's blood ran cold as she tried to process what the vampire had told her. She didn't understand, all her relatives were dead. "Who are you?" Her voice broke as she whispered the question cautiously, leaning away from the vampire before him.

The vampire who had remained somewhat quiet until this point spoke, further away than the other. "We are offering you a gift, there is no greater gift an immortal could give a mortal, and yet you hesitate, do you truly want death?"

Tonks pretended to contemplate the idea for a moment. This was her chance, the vampires seemed to believe they were truly convincing her into this ridiculous idea. She wanted to know their identity, but she could learn that when they were dead.

Gathering all of the strength she had available, she pulled out her wand and screamed the spell.

A burst of white light filled the rather small basement, sprouting from her wand. The light was conjured so it gave everything a rather 2-dimensional appearance, with no shadows, and touched every inch and crack of the space. Despite the spell she cast to save her eyes, she still had to squint with the pain of intense light.

The vampires before her let out screams that reminded her of rusty chains grinding together and threw themselves across the room against the opposite wall in agony but were unable to escape the light. The light wouldn't kill them, just emancipate them with the pain of it.

Tonks groaned and pulled herself up into a standing position, feeling the enormous drain on her magic that the spell had caused. She waited for a moment for the dizziness to go away and her mind to clear, her body was screaming in protest and her pain doubled. She slowly opened her eyes and looked over the area, it completely empty save for the bloodstains along the walls and a set of old wooden stairs.

The vampires against the wall were hiding behind their cloaks, still twisted in agony and screaming. One was significantly taller than the other, but aside from that, they both wore the same back, torn robes. She wasn't sure who they were, but she couldn't risk going to them. She would cast a sealing spell on the door to trap them in with the light while she called for reinforcements.

She limped her way towards the stairs, her eyes never leaving the screaming duo.

"You'll die for this! We'll tear you apart for this just as we will tear apart your weak partner. You will never, never be safe!" Tonks could barely understand the words from the shorter creature in between the screaming.

Tonks froze on the first step, turning to fully face the duo. What if they escaped? If they escaped, they would come for their revenge without a doubt. If that revenge was only on her, she could live with that, but it was for Sirius, as well. She couldn't let that happen, she couldn't take the chance. If she killed the duo, then it would stop the murders for all.

She edged her way towards the duo warily. To kill a vampire, one needed to remove their heads and burn their bodies. She could burn their bodies easily, she just needed to be close to cast the severing spell on them. Tonks moved slowly, watching for any sign of movement towards her but they both seemed intent on hiding from the scalding light.

Tonks came to stand before the taller of the two and raised her wand, it was clear that it was a man she was standing before. She saw the top of his head that wasn't covered by his cloak, and the brown hair that rested there. She wanted to grab his cloak and pull it down, to see his face, to see the monster that had murdered people so brutally.

She opened her mouth and began to say the severing spell, marking the end of the killing.

Faster than she could have reacted to, the smaller figure twisted around from under their cloak. Tonks felt indescribable pain in her chest and looked down at the hand that had crushed muscle and flesh to her heart.

Tonk's dead body fell through the floor with a dull thud.

"What a pity." The smaller vampire smirked and held her heart to its mouth and drank the blood that spilled out.

The spell ended, and everything went back to impenetrable darkness.

!

Familiar shades of pink and yellow were faded across the sky and Harry relaxed, knowing that he was dreaming.

He took a deep breath and let his eyes trail across the glade, where the warm cottage was aglow with evening light and his partner was sitting in their spot under the tree. Harry came to take his seat, facing the eternal sunset over the forest. He wondered if his dream partner would say something to him again and it seemed likely if he wanted it badly enough; it was his dream after all, and the person was a figment of his dreams.

"Hello." Harry looked over to the person in the other chair and offered a soft smile. He wanted to say something to prompt them to speak, but he wasn't sure what had made them do it the previous time.

A warm breeze brushed through Harry's hair gently and his companion didn't seem to take any notice. They sat as still as they ever had, silently watching the waning sun. Harry waited, turning to face the ethereal being beside him, wishing he had a face or any features he could attribute to them.

This was Harry's dream after-all, his sanctuary so he should be able to twist it to how he wanted. He tried to imagine what his companion could look like. They would be a man, of course, with dark hair and a smile warm enough to match the sunset they always watched. The thought warmed Harry's heart considerably, but he still wished he could look over and see the features he had created for his companion.

Harry turned to fully face the other chair and grinned. The man who sat beside Harry would have thick black hair, defined features, and deep blue eyes. The man would smile and fill Harry with a warmth that would fill his belly like a meal, and they would enjoy their beautiful surroundings together.

"I was under the impression that that was precisely what we have done for many years now, Harry." The voice that came from the person beside him was soft and blended with the wind, leaving his mind as easily as it had entered it.

The excitement that filled Harry's belly was undeniable and he looked at the figure beside him, sure now that they had spoken with him. They hadn't moved or given any sign that they spoke but that didn't bother Harry as much as it had the previous time. He had to think for a moment as to what the being was referring to.

"Usually, when you spend time with another, you speak with them." Harry knew he was still beaming but he didn't care; he didn't know what had suddenly got the man to speak he wanted to encourage it. Nerves ran through him, hoping the man would keep conversing with him.

"This is the first time you have addressed me," The wind-like voice breathed calmly.

Happiness bubbled in his belly like butterflies, and Harry nodded in agreement. "I didn't know that you could speak with me."

"Almost anything can converse, in their own way," observed his companion.

"Why do I dream about you?" The question burst from Harry before he could contain it, his mind swirling with questions. "Why can't I see what you look like?" If I created you, Harry left out. It was still, to converse with someone who wasn't real, let alone be so excited about it.

"Just because this is in your head doesn't mean I'm not real." The man answered back stronger this time, and if Harry was able to remember the way it sounded he would almost say it was wistful.

Harry regarded the ethereal being curiously, "you're just a part of my dream." He felt a pang in his stomach after saying it, realizing how rude it must have sounded.

Panic rose in him like foam as his partner remained silent. Harry couldn't lose contact now, after sixteen years of silence. His dream partner had been one of the only constants he could always be sure of, a safe place within the confines of his own mind.

Harry opened his mouth to whisper an almost desperate apology, but his companion's softly asked question stopped him. "What if this is my dream and you are the one that has been venturing into it?"

Harry's brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to retort, to say that the idea was ridiculous, but the words died on his tongue. The thought hadn't ever occurred to him, and suddenly he felt very small and ignorant.

That would answer a great many questions, as to why he could dream of a place he had never seen or how he could dream of the same thing so perfectly ever since could remember. He felt himself grow excited at the new knowledge and possibilities that it opened; the main exhilarating idea flittering through his mind was that this place, his sanctuary, might actually be real.

Before Harry could become excited, dread poured into his heart like lead. If this place was real and so was the person he had been sharing dreams with all his life: What did it mean?

From what he had learned from divination, it was extremely rare for a Psychic to enter another's dream and that was only a single time. How was he able to enter the same person's dream so often for his whole life? The person had begun speaking to him to comment on Harry's thoughts, so whoever this being was could be a talented legitimens and was able to get into his head without Harry noticing.

Harry tried to calm his thoughts and wrangle himself before he began to panic, but he never felt the panic rise. The person who he had spent so much time within dreams was not his enemy, that much he knew with every fiber of his being. This meadow had always been where he could clear his mind and let the worries of the world fade away and he knew it could never be a place of malevolence.

It scared Harry, that he could come to face with such a terrifying idea and yet remain so calm. He had questions, of course, if this idea was true, but he wasn't inherently distrustful of a person that he felt as close to as he did Sirius. It wasn't rational thinking, but there was something deep within himself that was soothed around the being and knew he could trust them.

The man, that Harry felt pretty sure was accurate, just sat silently as Harry proceeds his thoughts. Harry wondered what the man was thinking, if he wanted Harry to be here or if he was just an intruder in the man's mind. The thought of being an intruder here was ridiculous, Harry knew, this was his home as much as it belonged to his companion. This was somewhere only they know, and it belonged to them both.

Far too soon, too soon for Harry to even form the questions he wanted to ask the man, the telltale signs of wakefulness engulfed him. The sunset began fading and the warmth of the meadow was dwindling. "No, not yet!" He had so many questions to ask, so much he needed to discuss with the man, so they dream couldn't end yet.

He could have sworn that there was a smile on his companion's featureless face as he began to fade away with the dream. "Good-bye, for now, Harry."

Harry was pulled away from the dream and for the first time, he remembered how the man had sounded. He remembered only one word: Harry.

!

"In light of recent events, trips to Hogsmeade have been canceled until further notice." The headmistress's stern voice cut through the good cheer of the students in the Great Hall. "No student is to leave the grounds without express permission from a professor."

Groans echoed through the great hall in response to McGonagall's announcement. This weekend was supposed to be the first trip to Hogsmeade, which students had been buzzing about for weeks. Ron especially seemed disappointed, grumbling in between the bacon he was inhaling like pigs were going extinct.

Harry wasn't surprised by the announcement. The Daily Profit had arrived this morning, bringing news of another body found liked to the cult killer case that Sirius and Tonks were in charge of solving. After the post had arrived, Harry had become aware of all the stares he was receiving at the news. The killings were very clearly liked to Voldemort, and because of that, they were also linked to him.

Harry thought of his godfather, wondering how the case was proceeding. After hearing about the second body, he figured not so well. It was unlike Sirius or Tonks to go so long without owling him, and he decided to go to the Owlery that night to send them a letter. He didn't want to distract them during a case, but he was beginning to worry.

That's ridiculous, Harry thought, to worry for his godfather too much. Sirius and Tonks were the best Aurors in the Ministry and Harry knew they could take care of each other. Pride swelled in him as he remembered all the ceremonies he had attended for Sirius, giving him metals for his service. His godfather was one of the best, and Harry hoped one day he could live up to the standard Sirius had set.

"Still no word from Sirius?" Harry looked up at Hermione, who was watching him push his eggs around on his plate.

Harry shook his head.

"Well, I'd be surprised to hear it was a wizard doing the killing." The trio turned to look at Fred, George and a few of the other Gryffindors reading the article about the killing.

Ron gave his brother's a confused star, his mouth hanging open slightly displaying his half-chewed breakfast. "What else would it be? They were followers of You-Know-Who."

The twins shot him a look of exasperation before Fred retorted, "I know you're not the sharpest tool in the shed little brother, but surely you can't think he didn't have magical creatures serving him too."

George quipped, "Like werewolves-"

"And Trolls-"

"And Vampires-"

"And Dementors-"

The twin's list of creatures didn't seem to be ending and Harry was going to cut in, but Hermione beat him to the punch. "Most of those are too dumb or conspicuous to be the killers, the victims were killed in or close to villages after-all."

George gave the brown-haired girl a shrug and mischievous smile. "Well it was no Witch or Wizard that tore apart those people, Hermione, I'll bet all our joke fund on that."

Harry saw Hermione flush slightly and jumped in, to lessen the awkward silence that had begun to creep in. "Yeah, and where would we without your nonstop pranks if you couldn't afford to pull them." He gave the twins a mirthful smile.

Fred gave him a saucy wink, "In a much more boring school, I'm sure."

"In a much more, peaceful school," Ron grumbled and jumped as George tickled his side in response.

The group joked around a bit more before supper ended and it was time to get to class. Harry noticed a certain blond staring him down from the Slytherin table. Draco gave him a small nod, unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't looking for it.

Draco needed to talk to him, so once the group started getting up to leave for potions, he made an excuse to wait around behind.

The blond finally strolled out of the hall and saw Harry standing alone in a dark alcove. He can over to the dark -aired boy and they walked towards the dungeons, down a corridor that wasn't often used. Harry could smell the faint musk of the blonde's cologne and wondered if Draco had always worn it but were always too occupied for him to notice. Draco looked tense but seemed to calm down as they got out of view, lightly brushing his hand against Harry's.

Once they got far enough, Draco grabbed his arm and stopped them. "Have you been okay?"

Wondering where the blonde's concern was coming from, Harry slowly nodded. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, maybe because of the murders that are practically screaming 'dark lord'." Draco had his signature sneer, but his eyes held no anger, just fear. "Harry, what if you're really in trouble?" His voice was soft, and he turned so his back was to the black-haired boy.

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's slim waist instinctively, unsure of how to comfort the blonde. This was the first time Draco had ever said anything like this to him. In fact, this was the most personal conversation the two had ever had that wasn't about sex. Harry really wasn't concerned for himself, only concerned for Sirius and Tonks. His godfather had never let any harm come to him ever and there was nothing Sirius couldn't handle. Harry hadn't ever been concerned for his life in the past, not when he had Sirius. He wasn't sure how to put this in words for his very concerned lover though.

"Nothing will happen to me, I swear." He stroked his hands along the blonde's flat stomach, noting how slim he was.

"Father hinted something, Harry. After the quidditch match, he said he doesn't think you're going to be an obstacle for much longer." Draco's voice broke but he relaxed into Harry's embrace. Harry was shocked at how much concern the blonde had for him and couldn't help but feel touched.

"Your father is full of empty threats and hates me. Sirius would tell me if there was any indication that I might be in trouble. Even if I was, then I have Sirius watching out for me." Harry expected that to perk up the blonde, but it didn't seem to help much. He beamed and tickled the blonde's side and snicker, "I'd put up too much of a fight anyway, I am the savior of the wizarding world after all." He joked.

Draco turned around in his embrace and gave Harry an odd look, a red hue around the corners of his eyes. "Do you remember that night at all?" He held onto the dark-haired boy's hips tightly.

Harry was surprised by the odd question, something no one had ever asked him. He shook his head instinctively, he was only a year old after all. His chest tightened, and he wasn't sure why, but he felt that wasn't entirely true. He shrugged and looked away. "I can't remember it but… I guess sometimes I still hear screaming in my dreams. It doesn't happen often, but I think it was when he killed my mom." He suddenly felt self-conscious, being so open about something only the dream-man knew about. This isn't the time to think about him, Harry thought vehemently.

Draco pulled him closer, but Harry felt no desire to be so close to anyone at the moment, he wanted to pull away and be by himself. Despite his protests, Draco pulled Harry into a tight embrace that was completely out of character for the blonde. "Harry, can I trust you with something? It's nonsense but I can't get it out of my head."

Harry nodded, still uncomfortable with being so open with the Slytherin. It didn't feel right to be so open with anyone, especially when the secret he told was something he only shared with his dream-companion and it felt wrong to allow someone else to know. Harry pushed the thought from his mind, he didn't even know if the man in his dreams was real, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Father was speaking to mother about the killings while I was back to the Manor for her birthday. It's pure speculation, but father believes the killer thinks you know who didn't die that night." Draco spoke quickly.

Harry pulled back and stared gave Draco an inquisitive look. "You know that isn't true, right? This killer is insane, nothing more. If Voldemort was still alive, we would know."

"Yeah," The blond nodded but didn't sound convinced. "Yeah. You're right." He hugged Harry tighter and he returned the embrace, wanting to comfort the blonde.

Voldemort was dead. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that that was the truth. Voldemort died that night; his parents' deaths were not in vain.

The boys stood there embracing for a moment, and Harry felt awkward with the intimacy. He cared for the skinny blonde, but he didn't think of himself as a very open person. They had done everything except for fully having sex, but Harry still felt wrong in such an emotional embrace with his lover.

He willed himself to feel more comfortable being held, but he couldn't get the thought of the man in his dreams out of his head. Harry's dreams were the only times he felt okay with opening himself up because it was most likely all in his head. The way the man's presence made him feel was addicting; it was like Harry was a river, with nothing to worry about but flowing and the rest came naturally. He used to hardly ever think of his dream companion in his waking hours, but it seemed to be happening more often lately.

Harry pulled away from the blond, they had to get to potions class. Draco left first so they wouldn't walk in together, he gave Harry a long kiss before he left. Harry watched his lover leave and leaned against the cost stone wall, closing his eyes and trying to shake the feeling of dread that was creeping into him after that conversation.

He decided he needed to get some answers and decided to head to the library that evening to understand why he was having the dreams of that man. His head was swirling as he made his way to potions.

!

Potions class was about as interesting as the wizard who taught it thought Harry. If he hadn't needed to take the class in order to become an Auror, Harry would definitely not attend, but it was mandatory. It seemed as though Snape had gotten more lenient with him through the years, once it became clear that he really was willing to work as hard as he could in the class. Potions was the one class he never let his attention wander or socialized, as difficult as that was because he knew if he lost focus then he would definitely end up failing.

Once Harry started caring more about his future just recently when in his previous years the house cup was his top priority. It's true, the house cup was pretty high on his priority list, but he still wanted to focus on his future too. Maybe Hermione is rubbing off on me, Harry grinned. He tried to imagine himself older wearing the red Auror robes Sirius always wore. It was an odd image, especially when he imagined his family with him.

Aside from his the Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius and Tonks, he couldn't picture what that family might look like. Harry snuck a glance away from his potion to look at Draco who was looking rather smug with how his potion turned out and felt his stomach twist. The blond Slytherin was someone he could see himself building a life with but no matter how hard he tried to actually imagine it, it wouldn't work. It felt like he was trying to jam a puzzle piece in that just wasn't its place.

Harry looked back at his own potion that was going surprisingly well. It was always extra exciting whenever his potions turned out, something that didn't always happen for him.

"Mate, how did you get it to turn silver?" Ron groaned into his own potion that was a sickly green color.

"Really, Ronald, you put in Fungal-wood instead of Toad-stool. You were supposed to have your ingredients prepared yesterday." Harry chuckled as Hermione leaned across from the other side of Ron the chastise him. Ron's ears went beat-red and he shrugged.

Harry looked up to see a bob of blond hair appear in front of them. Draco had sauntered over after handing Snape in his perfectly brewed potion and was examining the ginger's potion. What was the blond thinking? Harry felt a tinge of panic as he stared down the blond, keeping his face as neutral as he could.

"Well Weasley, you certainly mimicked spew, but I don't think that's what we were aiming for here." There was no bite to the blonde's tone, merely amused observation like the two were friends.

Ron glared at the blond from across his potion, which did coincidently resemble spew much to Harry's amusement. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

The blond shrugged and smiled as if Ron had just told him a joke. "Nothing much, Weasel-by. I just wanted to mention using some of this." He held up a leafy stem for Ron to see. "It'll help. Then the rest of us won't have to smell your vile potion from the other side of the room." He set the stem down and sauntered over to his clan of Slytherins. Harry shot him an incredulous look which was answered by a small wink.

"Fuck that," Ron sniffed and ignored the ingredient Malfoy had left him. "It will probably just make my potion explode."

Hermione grabbed the stem and regarded in for a moment, her eye-browed scrunched in thought. "This is Tangle-wood. It actually may help, Ronald." She said diplomatically.

Ron shook his head and stirred his concoction with vigor. "No. No way. Anything the ferret would give me would definitely ruin my potion."

Harry shot his friend a crooked grin, "Mate, I don't think anything could make it worse." He winked at Hermione who shook her head but hid a smile behind her hand.

Before Ron could protest, the brunette quickly tossed the stem into his potion. Harry gave Hermione a grin and they leaned forward to look at the reaction.

"'Mione! Now, look what you've-"Ron's angry mumbles were cut off as almost instantly the potion started changing from a sickly green to the silver it should have resembled. The texture and smell weren't quite right, but it was significantly better than it had been.

The baffled trio turned to the Slytherin side of the classroom where Malfoy had his feet propped up on the desk and was talking loudly with his usual group. Ron and Hermione started bickering about the potion, Ron not trusting the change and Hermione trying to get him to just hand it in.

Why did the Slytherin help them like that? Harry realized he was staring when Blaise Zambini glared at him and he turned away. He occupied himself with bottling his own well-done potion. He had the color and smell right but it was a little bit watery, but it should still count as a pass. It unnerved him to see Draco acting so civil in front of everyone and he wondered what prompted it. He figured their last conversation must have affected the blonde more than he suspected.

A loud boom filled the classroom.

Harry shook the thoughts of the blond out of his head and turned around to see poor Neville covered in the black potion that stuck to him like tar.

"Oh Neville, are you okay mate?" Harry rushed over along with the other Gryffindors to make sure the boy hadn't accidentally poisoned himself. The tar-like potion was all over his desk and covered him from almost head to toe. The Gryffindor turned pale and looked as though he was about to faint, he was frozen as if moving would set off another explosion.

"How they let you into this level potions I'll never know, you foolish boy." Snape stormed from his desk to the back of the classroom like a bat gliding through the air. The group of students pre-emptively parted to allow the potions master to pass. Neville seemed too shocked to say anything.

Snape growled an angry cleaning charm, but the boy's skin seemed to be stained black. "Weasley, take Longbottom to the Nurse before he and destroy anything else in my classroom."

Ron nodded and quickly cleaned up his space. He let the still stunned Neville lean on him as they stumbled out of the classroom.

Snape returned to his post at the front of the classroom but seemed to be in a significantly worse mood than before. "That is the end of the class." They still should have had another 10 minutes to finish their potions, but no one dared mention it when Snape was in such a dangerous mood. "Hand in what you have and clean your work area, if I see any messes you'll have detention for a week."

The class was silent as they cleaned their work areas, Harry and Hermione ensured Ron's area was perfectly clean too. They were the last to hand in their potions when Snape stopped him, "I'm sure you won't mind cleaning you follow Gryffindor's area, Potter. You too Granger." The greasy git didn't pose it as a question, and Harry was sure it wasn't.

The Gryffindors gave each other a look and Harry answered in an overly polite tone, "not at all, professor."

Snape gave them one last disinterested look as he disappeared through the door beyond his desk, which Harry assumed to be his private chambers, leaving the Gryffindors alone.

They got to work immediately, trying to get the job done as quickly as possible. Harry tried to avoid the subject, but the brunette automatically brought up the way Malfoy had acted. The bushy-haired girl bit her lip and didn't sound malicious or even suspicious, but genuinely confused towards the blonde's change of heart. "Maybe he's just not that interested in your pretty rivalry as much as he used to be. You too, do seem to be fighting less." She observed nonchalantly.

Harry regarded his best friend from the corner of his eye as she scrubbed the stain off of Neville's chair, looking for signs that she knew more than she was letting on. Hermione seem didn't seem to know what the implications of her last statement were so Harry let out a soft breath and released the tension from his shoulders and kept scrubbing.

"Malfoy has been less of a prat lately," Harry nodded in agreement, keeping his voice light and almost disinterested.

They made quick work of the mess, even if it was awful to get the thick, black potion off the desk. "Neville definitely owes us," Harry observed as they collected the rest of the ingredients that Neville hadn't used.

Hermione hummed in agreement and they made their way to the cabinet the held the potions materials for their year. The cabinet was organized meticulously, obviously Snape's doing. They placed everything inside delicately.

"That's odd," Hermione observed as she picked up a small bundle of flowers. "This definitely doesn't belong to our year, Neville shouldn't have had it."

Harry regarded the ingredient with interest, "What do you think it is? I've never seen it before."

Hermione shut the cabinet, still holding the flowers. "It's Brightweed. I've read about it before, it's extremely rare and volatile, it must have been what caused Neville's potion to explode like that. It must have been misplaced from Professor Snape's stock."

They both looked up at the door opposite of the one Snape had disappeared through. Through there was Snape's private lab and students were expressively not allowed to enter.

"Should we just leave it at his desk then?" Harry shuddered at the thought of what would happen if they disturbed Snape in his private chambers.

Hermione shook her head and moved the flower as far away from her body as possible. "We can't, its highly volatile and needs to be stored properly…" She paused for a moment. "Unless we want to see his desk explode."

Harry shot her a mischievous grin, "it would be a sight to see wouldn't it?" The brunette gave him a disapproving look, but he could see the amusement in her eye. "Yeah, you're right. Lets just quickly put it in his lab and get out of here."

They made their way over to the door and stood before it, neither of them wanting to touch the handle as if Snape would jump out of the room and hex them to pieces. Harry sighed and grabbed the door knob, pleased that he wasn't instantly hexed to bits.

"Well, that's a good sign." Harry laughed and heaved the heavy door open.

As soon as the door opened they were hit with the stench of spices and cleaning spells. The room was much larger than it should have been, obviously enchanted and had cases along most of the walls with ingredients and books. In the middle of the room stood a work table perfect to hold up to three potions at a time. It was rather bright, an enchanted window in the corner showed the view from the astronomy tower and a potion seemed to be steaming in the sunlight underneath it.

"Let's just find where this goes and get going before Snape sees us," Hermione muttered and started looking in the cabinets along the walls.

Harry hummed in agreement and starting to trail along the cabinets along his side of the room. The ingredients were almost unnerving from twigs all the way to dried organs and everything in between. There was a smaller cabinet in the corner of the room that looked as though it normally locked but Harry wasn't able to find the lock.

Harry looked into the small cabinet with interest noticing a bundle of familiar plants that were bound together with leather. Surprised at recognizing an ingredient he leaned in closer, barely hearing Hermione tell him that she had found where the flowers were supposed to go. The plants were in a small bundle with a few other ingredients that he didn't wasn't quite so interested in, and there was a small case that held tiny vials of a bright, cherry red potion.

"It's Fluxweed." Harry was surprised to see the plant they had only just learned about in Herbology.

Harry noticed Hermione lean in to look into the case, as well. "Neville said they grew it for Snape. Why is it locked in a cabinet when there are rarer ingredients that are not?"

Harry shook his head and noticed the small case of potions had a tiny description written on it in Snape' s smooth writing.

"Harry, come on we need to go. I think I heard something in Snape's rooms." Hermione gave Harry's shoulder a small tug in the direction of the door.

With a small sigh, Harry turned around and followed her out. They kept an eye on Snape's chambers as they ran out of the classroom. The pair didn't calm down until halfway up to the Gryffindor tower.

"So, what was written on the case of those weird potions anyway?" Hermione questioned as they made their way to their dorms.

Harry scrunched his nose, trying to remember exactly how it looked. "It was hard to read, but I'm pretty sure it was called 'Bloodborne', have you heard of it?"

Hermione shook her head in response, "That sounds so familiar like I've read it somewhere but can't remember. That's strange, I always remember." She sounded genuinely troubled as she made her way to the girl's dorm.

Putting the weird potion out of his mind, Harry turned around and headed back out of the common room. He was determined to find out what was going on with his dreams, and figure out if his dream may be more real than he believed.