I know this one is short, but I needed to put up another chapter and fast.

Draco Malfoy
And the Bloodstone
_ _ _ _ _By Ti'ana

Chapter Sixteen

When Draco arrived back at Hogwarts, he was thrown so violently into the room that the Bloodstone goblet in his hand swayed a bit and some of the liquid spilled out. The goblet itself was not all that big, and every drop was vital to bringing Lisha back to health. The Port Key Draco had used lay on its side on the floor. He cautiously kicked it under Blodsucan's desk, hoping that the action would not pull him back into the vampire's lair, and it didn't.

"I'm coming Lisha," Draco murmured. Collecting himself, he looked about the room. The door to the office was open. He ***had heard the door open when he was pulled into the goblet, but who had it been?He would have to worry about this later. Lisha's life was hanging in the balance, and there wasn't a second to spare.

With his hand covering the top of the goblet, Draco ran down the corridor in the direction of the hospital wing. On his way, he was fortunate enough to run into Professor Snape.

"I've got it," Draco panted. He presented the teacher with the goblet.

Professor Snape's sallow skin was even more pallid than usual, but in recent times, Draco had grown accustomed to the worn look of the Potion's Master.His hands which were clasped in front of him were trembling something terrible. "We are in danger, Draco. You, myself, Lisha, the entire faculty and student body."

"What– what do you mean?" Draco's voice broke off in a whisper. "What is going to happen?"

"I have found some documents of Blodsucan's. It turns out that he has been planning to use Hogwarts as a breeding ground for the evildoings of Voldemort for the past thirteen years. He was meaning to use the Quidditch match next week to unleash his minions from the vampire realm to overtake Hogwarts. If they are allowed to-"

Draco cut Professor Snape short. "His minions? What do you mean?"

"Why, his Shades," Snape answered, rather perplexed. "Though I don't suppose you would have found them in any of your vampire books outside of Hogwarts itself. The Shades are the souls of those who have lost their lives to a vampire's bite.It is very infrequent that Shades are 'born,'so to speak. Vampires have alternatives, you know."

"No," Draco cut in. "Those Shades, they look like snakes, sort of?" Snape nodded. "I met them! They would never help Blodsucan. They hate him!"

"And you believed them! Malfoy, don't you understand the severity of this situation? When the Death Eaters broke up, they all swore that they revoked their pledge of fealty to Voldemort.Do you believe them, Malfoy? Even... your father?"

No.

"It's no matter now, Draco. The Shades cannot disobey Blodsucan. They cannot speak against him in his own place without him knowing. Voldemort had ears everywhere; so does Blodsucan." Snape paused and winced, as if the thought of his next words was painful. "Even here in Hogwarts, we are not safe."

Draco's eyes began tearing. Not in the way that one cries when they are sad, or even scared, but when they are overwhelmed by an unexpected truth, a difficult task or the arrival of a Howler. "What can we do?"

"Nothing."Snape turned sharply around.He began pacing. "There is only one way, Draco, and only one person in all of Hogwarts has the sanctifying power to fight an entire stadium of Shades."

Sanctifying, Draco thought. Sanctifying. Sancti. Lux Sancti!

"Lisha!"

"Which is why it is important that you bring the goblet right to her.Her fate in death as the Sacrosanct Vampire by the hand of a minion of evil is worse than becoming a Shade."

Draco did not ask what that terrible fate was. "I'll get to her. I swear it, I will make sure that Lisha is well enough to go to the Quidditch match." He started walking away.

"And Draco?"

He turned around.

A sinister look crossed Snape's face all of a sudden. "I expect optimal performance next week. You have had your rest. It's time for a Slytherin victory." He offered a feeble smile.

"Yes, sir!"

***

"I can't do it," Lisha's dull eyes stared up at Draco.

"You have to! No one else in Hogwarts, maybe even England, has the power to defeat Blodsucan. Don't be selfish and worry about yourself, Luralby! Think of the world!"

Lisha turned her face away. It seemed that motion took much of her energy. Her voice was low and emotionless. "My concern is not with myself. I lost self-regard years ago. I have no will left, Malfoy. That liquid you hold in the goblet is not a cure-all for vampires. I am not just a vampire."

"You are a Sacrosanct Vampire. Professor Snape told me so."

"No, Draco. I am the Sacrosanct Vampire.The only one. The chosen one. Even Professor Snape cannotknow how to heal me." She rested the back of her head on the pillow.

Draco was adamant. "Tell me." His eyes softened a bit, and he laughed nervously, toying with the rim of the goblet containing the precious elixir. "I have to play in the Quidditch match next week. And you have to be there, cheering me on."

Lisha smiled weakly. Slowly and deliberately she reached her hand out and placed it lightly on Draco's. He looked up at her, red in the cheeks, but maintaining his demeanor."I saw it once," she whispered. "In Blodsucan's office. A vile filled with a liquid of the deepest red. That which you have now, the Bloodstone elixir, is worthless for now, but later on it may be my savior. I want you to leave it here, under the bed. I'll tell MadamPomfrey to make sure it remains there; she won't ask to many questions." Lisha's eyes closed, head tilted forward, and her breathing became slow and rhythmic as if she had fallen asleep. But she continued speaking in this posture. "I am counting on you, Draco Malfoy.We all are."