Only this time, he did dream, which was a terrifying thing. It was fragmented bits of memory, at first it was just little snapshots of blurred memories of his childhood, then it was pieces of the time the dark lord was in his home, then the fire, and then even worst was the last phase of his transition, and then oddly just one little memory of when he left his room to meet Potter here. He woke up with a start, and barely glanced around, his gaze flickering over Potter who was sitting at the edge of the bed and giving his a puzzled look. Draco didn't have time to worry about what that look was all about because of that last memory. He had forgotten to lock up his room. He was off the bed and had his shoes on in a matter of seconds but before he could actually exit the room Potter grabbed his arm, nearly making him jump clean out of his skin. Potter looked both puzzled and concerned now, and without thinking Draco blurted, "I forgot to do something when I came here."

He had no idea what possessed him to say it, but Potter reluctantly let his arm go and said, "How about we meet here again later tonight."

Draco frowned and said, "The form said only once a day."

Potter snorted and said, "You slept for a lot longer than you think you did."

Although that was rather unsettling Draco did not have time to worry about it as he was out the painting and heading through the dark castle, but he could see the first rays of the morning sun which almost gave him pause, to think he slept completely through the night, so odd.

Draco rushed down towards the dungeons, trying to stay in the shadows and avoid everyone. When he finally bolted through the living space and burst into his room his stomach plummeted when he saw that the three tombs he had finally finished where absent. His breathing stuttered out and he did a quick spell to ascertain if anything else was missing to be certain who had taken his things.

He took several deep breaths and marched out to the living space to find any of the snakes, and was lucky to locate Blaise, he smiled, showing too much teeth, and asked, "Where is Pansy?"

Blaise swallowed audible and said, "She headed to the great hall for breakfast nearly half an hour…" When Draco spun and headed towards the entrance to the Slytherin dorms Blaise called out, "I could try and get her for you."

Draco shook his head; there was not enough time for that. For the first time he brought in a lung full of air and attempted to use the tracking abilities his kind was supposedly pretty well known for. He ignore the many startled gasped as many students seemed to glimpse him for the first time, only to see him seething with barely contained rage. Despite the strength, the metaphorical onslaught of emotions that were trying to reach him that were not his, he simply clamped that part of himself down tight and stormed into the great hall, located Pansy, and proceeded to approach her, all while thinking of ways to get even.

The whole great hall had gone silent. All eyes turned to him and as he approached Pansy turned and with a smile made as if to jump up into his arms, but Draco held one finger out and his jaw clenched dangerously as he said in a voice so low barely she could hear, "Right now I am rather furious, and although I am the epitome of control if you don't come out with me right now and explain yourself, than I might not be able to hold myself in check."

Pansy's eyes were wide as she said quickly in a slightly choked voice, "I thought you wanted it published."

Draco had heard that with certain strong emotions his kind could release their fangs without having to be thirsty, and he found that rage was a good trigger, although probably didn't help that he was surrounded by a large portion of people who were hungry. Draco had to take a few deep breaths through his nose before he could say, "Let us discuss this somewhere else."

Pansy glanced around and muttered, "Right, prying ears and rumbling stomachs… the potions room?"

Draco gave a faint nod and Pansy all but ran out of the great hall, Draco followed at a slower pace, trying to keep his composure, but he was still furious and he needed to know the situation and what possessed the other Slytherin to take his journal as well. There wasn't anything really personal in there, but he didn't like people touching his things, and if she had a mind to make a profit off his books she probably could make some profit selling some of what he had wrote to certain magazines and such, the truth was she could really make or break him and Draco wasn't sure he trusted her that much.

When Draco closed the door behind him, Pansy sobbed, "I'm so glad your okay, you were gone for so long, I was so worried, there wasn't an announcement, but it wouldn't be the first time the ministry tried to keep an execution quite for a little while. I really only took those books because you asked me too if… and I promise you that only the most elite publishers got their hands on a copy and they had to swear in blood ink that they would put forth some great publicity before they published. It's going to be a bestselling sensation. I'm sorry if I jumped the gun, but now isn't it even better? You get to live with the glory?"

Draco felt some of his anger dissipate because Pansy was genuine, she was telling the truth, and she wasn't hiding the emotions on her face, still… "And my journal? Why in hade's name did you take that?"

Pansy closed her eyes and said, "Draco, please don't be angry, but I was thinking about Granger's movements to try and change some of the ministry's laws, or at least just change how much control they have, and although she was terrible at it, I thought perhaps, between your book, and some key pieces from your journal, like how close you were just a few steps away from becoming a Potions Master and then their can be an expose on how the ministry forbids it because of the belief that Dampier are too much like vampires, yet it has been proven time and again that a Dampier can brew potions just as easily if not better than the average witch or wizard and the risk of possible contamination of a potion, with sweat or blood, is just that of a human witch or wizard, because when mixed with anything your blood is just that, blood. It looses any properties that might have made it above average, unlike a vampire's, that's why a Dampier can't change a human like a vampire. It's not an infectious strain of magic. Don't you see Draco, if people could just understand, then your life wouldn't have to be over, all those things you thought you could do, all those things you wanted to do, you can still do them. You don't have to give up just because your… your different."

Draco sighed when Pansy began to cry in earnest, the last of his anger dissipated, and he opened his arms. When Pansy ran into them Draco said, "Listen Pansy, even if your plan falls through, I've changed, I know I said some things that made it sound like I was perhaps a bit suicidal, but I'm not, at least not anymore, and besides, I have to survive because who else is going to help you plot a way to get your crush to propose, and then who is going to plan the wedding, because frankly, darling, without me you'd be lost, and if you have a child I bloody well better be Godfather or else I refuse to give any children you have exciting presents like ponies or brooms or estates. It's not like I'm going to have kids, so I need to help you have some so I can spoil them rotten."

Pansy snorted and said, "So we've finally accepted the fact that you're never going to marry me, but are you ever going to accept that you are a man with needs and you need to let me set you up on as many dates as it takes for you to realize what you are interested in."

Draco sighed and said, "Pansy, I have enough to deal with, and frankly, I can already tell you quite a lot of what I'm not interested in, and for now that's all I care to think about, otherwise I think I might break. I'm still dealing with a recent transition, do you really want to throw hormones into the mix?"

Pansy looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "They say repression and avoidance are all really bad coping mechanisms. You need to realize what you want before it overwhelms you and you lose control." Pansy pulled back and looked Draco in the eye as she asked, "So Draco, what do you want?"

Draco tugged on a fistful of hair and said, "I don't know Pansy, I just… I'm not ready for deciding something like that."

Pansy smiled as she gently took his hand, making him relent in his unconscious effort to pull his hair out, and said, "That alright my darling, whenever you are ready, I'm here for you."

Pansy kissed his hand and Draco was too shell shocked to react, for so long he had been trying to avoid that train of thought, that forbid path, that suddenly his mind had latched onto. Pansy released his hand and walked past him to the door, she gasped when she opened it and said, "Potter! What are you doing here?"

Potter had an odd expression on his face, "Hermione left something, she asked me to get it for her before meeting her in the library."

Pansy glanced back at Draco who gave a slight nod, before she continued on her way. Potter entered the Potion's room, and before Draco could think to make for the exit he asked, "What were you two talking about?"

Draco shrugged and said, "Not that it's any of your business, but Pansy and I are partners in a bit of a business adventure."

Potter visible tensed when Draco said the word partners, but relaxed a bit after, then he asked, "What had you so pissed at you business partner?"

Draco sighed and said, "She jumped the gun on some important matters and I thought the worst, but everything has been sorted out."

Draco turned and headed for the door and Potter asked, "And what exactly is this business adventure?"

Draco wanted to lash out, want to tell Potter were he could stick it, wanted… well it didn't matter what he wanted because he needed to be polite and answer Potter's questions without being so vague that h came across as rude, because frankly Potter held all the power in so many ways. Draco took a deep breath and said, "I'd ask that you keep it under wraps, at least until it hits the papers, but Pansy has sent a book of mine to be published. I guess you could say I was expecting a little more notice."

Draco was just at the door when Potter said, "I'll be expecting you just after sunset."

Something about the way he said it, something in his voice, made Draco shudder.