Oi oi (covering my ass, respectively), just in case I've managed to insult someone with my playful (mind you I'm being playful) jabs at Veela fics, I'm sorry.  I'm not being mean, I just noticed that fics with the word 'Veela' in the title get more reviews, a hell of a lot more reviews, than I do.  Its not so much that I'm not a fan of a good Veela fic (especially when our dearest Draco retains his willowy qualities and obtains unusual strength), I just don't like MPreg unless it's hilariously funny and not at all WAFFy.  It's completely illogical, besides… ow. 

Author's Notes: Baka Harry ne?  And yes, for the record, it is possible to break your foot that way, I gave myself a bad sprain punting a football so I just put more force behind it and imagined the results.  Yes, the chapter titles grow increasingly more bizarre and yet no one has guessed that their meaning… actually, I think I'm going to start self-advertising, see if it works (I'm going to hell anyway).  My friend tells me that Scion means 'son' and so it is with a deep sense of irony that I so dub Sir. Vamp, "Scion." 

Review Responses: (A cute alliteration, it'll work)

FlowerfunLeah: It's slash, it's slash I promise.  Please don't get impatient with me I just don't want to have a random snogging session, I want it to be funny and… workable.  Just so you know, the beginning of this chapter is actually important (I had to fulfill a word quota) so read it.  Thanks for reviewing for me.  Domo domo!

Katrina: Thanks. So, Harry's not too OOC?  I've been worried about that, I mean, I really hate it when my characters are… well, out of character.  Unless of course it's a plot device, which, to some extent this is.  Tell me what you think of Draco in this one, is he too soft?

Layce74:  Thanks, I intend to.

Disclaimers: I don't own _Harry Potter_. Note the underline, I mean _Harry Potter_ the cash cow organization thing, not Harry the goofy character; cash-cow ­_Harry_ includes its characters, plot etcetera.  I don't have enough money to even think of buying _Harry Potter'_s copyright. But my birthday is coming up soon… does anyone want to buy me _Harry Potter_? ::Hint hint::

In Darkness Found, Light Revealed

Chapter 6: Starch in the Gravy

He had once been young and brash as Tom was, as Harry was.  He had been a member of the imperial army, young and full of himself.  Like Tom, after his first battle he believed that nothing could harm him, and like Tom he was wrong.  He'd met his maker so-to-speak in a forest somewhere in Germany, a forest much like this one, and had been reborn young and weak.  He knew nothing of the world but was left to fend for himself, abandoned by the one that made him into what he was. 

The sun had been brilliant agony, he missed the sight of it, the cymbal crash of light as it peeked over the horizon, he missed the soft twilight as it fell.  Humans were fortunate to have their sun, but he regretted nothing.  His master had left him in the sun to die, but he scrambled to safety just in time with his flesh melting off of him and his eyes burning.  From that moment on he had feared its rays. Feared as only a mortal being could, the sun made him mortal, made him human and just as a fragile human was killed, the sun killed him.

He wandered for centuries before finding someone like himself, he'd become so old by then, so old and so jaded to the world, so tired that the person was a relief, but she too wandered away.  She was young, she wanted to explore and for a brief time, so to did Scion, but it was not to be.  Scion's youth had been wasted on survival, his energy consumed by finding a next meal, never having learned from a sire, he never gorged himself on the flesh of a human until he met her.  She taught him everything, taught him how to live as he should have been living for hundreds of years.  He was so old to be so inexperienced, she told him, he was an ancient and yet an infant to their ways. 

It was an unexpected cruelty to be told this.  She had no inkling of his suffering; he had survived in solitude for so long, too long to be considered juvenile. Though unrefined he may have been, at his first taste of human blood, he knew boundless power as the others had not.  Jealous of this power, jealous of his control and patience, she drifted away, probably to some primitive country where hunting was bountiful and suspicion overlooked by natives.  She would travel somewhere where she could be a goddess and be handed her lusted after power on a silver platter.

Bound to his homeland, he returned to see everything changed.  Great buildings had been erected, he no longer understood the tongue of the land, and the people no longer knew of his prestigious family.  He felt the soul of his ancestral grounds screaming, and so he left.  Traversed the land on foot and horseback, traveling at night with nothing but his food for company.  Though sometimes it made the most interesting company.

He took a boat around the world, traveling east, then south.  He finally reached the island of his inhabitance nearly a millennium later.  It was a strange and wonderful place, full of interesting religions and rituals, he saw men behead their wives, and wives behead their children.  He saw rats plague the world, whores killed, and merchants made of paupers through his much filtered night-lens. He traveled on, leaving his home in the destructive hands of the unsuspecting human.  On to the islands, on to the mainland, taking in all that he had lost in the years gone by.  Wars had ravaged his country, people were dying of living decay in the streets, but no one was willing to rescue them.  It was neither his place nor his pleasure to set them on their feet or take their lives.  Their blood was weak, it was riddled with the bitter taste of rot, they were all dying in the cities, clogging the metropolises with their waste. 

Eventually he returned, returned to England and the castle of old, though he was unable to enter it.  He settled down, never having created a minion or a child, nor had he ever the desire to do so.  Tom was the first person to have stirred the excitement in his dead veins again, churning up discord in his lackluster world.  He presented a challenge, how to tame the boy, the school, and eventually the whole country side without the notice of forces more powerful than he.   It was not to be, however, as his plan was discovered.  That was when his forest became 'Forbidden' the 'Forbidden Forest.' 

Now the excitement was back, never before had he been tempted to view a human as anything more than food. Now he needed this human to be, to be with him, for all of eternity. He needed this human to cease being human. There was nothing keeping him from storming the castle, but an operation of this kind required subtlety.  Subtlety kindly provided by his first minion.

He fell asleep with a contented smirk on his face.  Everything would happen today, this afternoon would be the crux of his strategy, tying up loose ends and achieving his desire.  The game had been fun but fruitless; it was time to end it. 

~*~

The thought of being free of his debt was all that kept him working, setting up this adolescent debacle.  To think that he was being used as a mere pawn; brought to his knees by one man, not even a man.  It was an insult to his pride, an insult that could not go unpunished.  Once he had fulfilled this ridiculous task he would rally an army against Scion and his new pet, he would destroy them for all time.

This cruelty could not persist. For decades he'd been used in this manner, called upon when need be.  Thirty years ago the summons had stopped very abruptly and the self-styled Lord Voldemort had assumed that the ancient evil had died.  For as long as he had known him, Scion had been more than a vampire, more than a mere wizard could dispose of. As a youth, he had fervently prayed for the light would somehow pierce the thick forest canopy and Scion's heart, but his prayers had never been received.

He was continuously furious with himself for once again having been made errand boy for a creature older than God. In the beginning of his relationship with the powerful being, he had thought to use him for his own purposes.  Voldemort had thought to use him as a weapon of war, Scion was able to deliver a hoard, entire armies of Muggles and Wizards alike into his hands to be controlled like putty.

Their first meeting had proved nearly fatal for the Dark lord but since that time he had been striving to best him, often practicing spells for weeks on end without interruption in order to destroy his 'Master.' Soon, however, he came to realize that he would never best the beast without becoming something more than human, that was when he realized he could speak in the ancient snake tongue.  That was when he realized he was the heir of Slytherin, surely Salazar was a man that was capable of defeating one vampire, his heir most certainly could. 

So he struck up an alliance with a basilisk, making a deal with one devil, then another. The basilisk was a creature that he could easily control and use for his own purposes.  He had terrorized the school, killed a muggle-born wench, and just for the fun of it, he had gotten the half-breed expelled.  It was all in preparation, he would use his precious pet Basilisk to freeze Scion while he disposed of the remains, but nothing went according to plan.  The half-breed had been expelled far too early, he had assumed with the Ministry of Magic, indecisive even then, that the trial would drag on for months, giving him plenty of time to complete his mission.  He had been thwarted by circumstance as the oaf had been thrown out within the week and his wand snapped in half. With no one left to frame, Tom was stuck in his enslavement once again, something that Scion found endlessly amusing.

Potter would assume his role as errand boy, something he more than deserved, but there was something different.  Even Scion seemed to hold Potter in a special esteem, something that made him furious.  How was it that a scrap of a boy, Harry Potter was so special?  How had he continuously evaded Scion's grasp when he, Lord Voldemort, could not?

***

"I'm bored Potter."

Of course he was bored, it was Saturday, a Hogsmead weekend and all of his Slytherin friends had abandoned him in search of adventure, and possible first-year baiting.  Not even simpering Pansy Parkinson was around to keep him entertained, though with the recent insinuations about her that were made by Potter, he couldn't stand to think about her anyway.  It really was a disgusting thought.

"And you want me to do what about it Malfoy?"

Malfoy shrugged and flopped down on a hard chair in front of Harry.  He was in the library catching up on his transfiguration work by copying Hermione's notes, out of sympathy she let him borrow them with the promise that he would study. Malfoy had come up from behind him and scared him senseless before he made his announcement of boredom, though Harry could have guessed at his motives.  Why else would someone in their seventh year cast the illusion of a rabid cow on someone's homework?  

They hadn't spoken all week though Malfoy had made a point of laughing at Harry's limp. It hadn't lasted long, he only had a difficult time of walking because of the pain, but that disappeared in no time at all; Hermione had barely had time to ask what was wrong before he was on his feet again. The foot had healed beautifully, when Harry tried researching healing spells, he found that the temporary transfiguration of his bones had set them permanently, Malfoy's brace had given the break plenty of opportunity to heal without nerve damage.  "I still haven't thanked you for-"

Malfoy cut him off with an impatient wave, "Bored Potter. Remember bored!  Everyone that's remotely interesting is in town." 

"Go cast cheering charms on yourself, then everything will be interesting," muttered Harry, dismissing him with a wave of his quill as he returned to his notes.

Malfoy caught the hand and waved it around, knocking Harry off balance. "As fascinating as that sounds, I'm BORED!"

Harry wrenched his hand back, rubbing at his sore shoulder joint.  "What do you propose I do about it?" 

"Let's get detention."

This was said so eagerly that Harry was afraid Malfoy was serious.  Then he realized he was.  "Are you insane?  Never mind, I know the answer to that, but if you start badgering me, all the first years are going to think you have a crush." 

Malfoy laughed, he didn't know why, but the suggestion was so ludicrous that it was funny. If the first years noticed them at all, they would be too terrified of the infamous Potter to make assumptions about him or his arch rival.  Somehow, over the course of endless detentions and broken appendages they'd developed a friendly camaraderie that only they would understand. The worst insults were interpreted as highly amusing, though they were often delivered with venom. 

"No love interests." Malfoy said jauntily, "I'm just bored and you're the only one around."

"I should hope not." Harry said dryly, rolling up a sheet of parchment. "So, you really want detention."

"Not detention per-se, but a detention worth offense could be interesting."  Malfoy was lounging in the chair with natural grace, but everything about him screamed energy, more so than were he bobbing up and down like a buoy.

Harry rolled his eyes and reminded himself to never get bored, if the results in the typically lethargic Malfoy were this bad, he didn't want to imagine what would happen to him.  Then again, he could probably handle boredom better than could Malfoy, given that he had been bored before.  Harry shook his head to clear it, pontificating on boredom was a useless activity and Malfoy was waving a hand in front of his face.  "Fine. Let's go to Hogsmead."
"Wha?"

"Hogsmead. You know, the village that's about half a mile from the school.  Unless you would prefer the Forbidden Forest?"

"No. And I know what Hogsmead is, but how do we get around Filch?  He'll be watching us, well… you, he really doesn't give a damn about me." That was true, Filch didn't care whether Malfoy obeyed the rules or not, so long as he never set off a stink bomb, but he watched Harry's every move like a hawk.  If the boy put one toe out of line, Filch knew about it.

Harry got up, taking Hermione's transfiguration notes with him.  He knew what he was doing was stupid, and he knew that seven years of fierce rivalry wouldn't come to an end because of a month's detention and a broken foot, but he too was bored and he was willing to take the risk because if he got in trouble, Malfoy got in trouble. "Meet me back here in ten minutes for Hogsmead." 

"I don't… wait… what? You confuse me."  These days, nothing made sense.

"Ten minutes."

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, Harry was closely watching the Marauders Map and toting his invisibility cloak in a carry sack.  He looked for all the world like he was lost in his work, but the boy casually following him knew better.  Draco Malfoy was well trained in the art of secrecy and nonchalance, he too looked like he was lost to the world but he was closely following Harry down the East Corridor and to the statue of the Humpbacked Witch.

It was truly a hideous old statue, Malfoy had always wondered why they kept it around, but he realized the answer as her shawl covered back slid apart to reveal a short drop into an unlit passage. "Get in." Harry hissed, eyes trained on the Marauders map.  Malfoy did as told to find himself at the beginning of a long and lightless tunnel.  He followed the wall to make room for Harry, who dropped beside him seconds later.

"Lumos."

"Cool." 

"I rather thought so. Are you still bored?" 

"No. Where does this lead? I thought that all the passages to Hogsmead were shut down in third year because of Sirius Black!  How on earth did you find out about this?" 

Harry laughed, he too was excited to be out and about in the day light, though he felt he should be somewhere else.  "Honeydukes, obviously they weren't, and Weasley twins have their uses." 

"I'll say."  Malfoy was like a kid in a candy store, and very shortly, he would be.  Harry giggled. "Shut it Potter."

Sometimes being invisible in Hogsmead was more fun than being visible.  This was one of those times, Harry and Malfoy wandered around the town feeling impervious.  Harry took a shot and Crabbe, tripping him with an invisible foot.  Crabbe grabbed on to Goyle, who lurched for Zabini and they all fell over in a heap.  Even Malfoy snickered.

One at a time they unveiled themselves to buy supplies from Zonko's, candy from Honeydukes, and even hot coffee to go from Madame Puddyfoot's, though that was primarily for warming their half-frozen fingers. 

There was still snow on the ground from the last storm, younger students were engaged in a furious snow ball fight in the yard of the Shrieking Shack and Harry was sorely tempted to join them, but he heard Hermione not far away, acting the part of the Head Girl and yelling for them to behave themselves.  Surely she would have noticed if a snowball emerged from nowhere and hit someone. 

Too late did he notice Malfoy bending down and scooping up two handfuls of snow.  The first got crushed into his head, the second was lobbed at Hermione's.  Harry wiped muddy snow from his eyes to see Hermione glaring in their general direction as she dripped with the dirty slush.  Malfoy was barely holding back peals of laughter so Harry stomped on his foot.   "That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was." 

They bickered about the hilarity of the impromptu snowball fight all the way to the Hogshead Inn, it was the best place to order butter beer and not get in trouble for it because none of the students would be anywhere near the shady place.

Something rocked the ground, knocking many students and respected kiosks to the ground.  People were crying out, was this a nightmare, an earthquake?  What was going on?  Harry could feel the screams, he could feel the swell of magic and the vibrations of massive power, he could feel the pressure building in the air, he could feel Malfoy quaking next to him, but he couldn't hear.  Suddenly the feeling was gone, as was the pressure. He could hear people screaming, and Malfoy was shaking with a mixture of surprise, fear, and anger.  The Dark Mark hung low in the sky over the Three Broomsticks and people were running, terrified across the town trying to get away from it.

Harry ran towards the source of panic, he ran in the general direction of the Dark Mark, forgetting that he was supposed to be safe in the castle, forgetting that he was shocking scores of people by emerging out of no where.  "Potter!" He heard Malfoy's voice behind him, but he didn't think about it.  Something terrible was going to happen, people were going to die.  Voldemort was here! "HARRY!"

Post Author's Notes: Holy crap.  It took me so much effort just to exceed my previous chapter in word count…. Eugh. It was agony.   I'm well aware of the fact that Malfoy is out of character, I'm sorry, I was sugar high.  I did try to make an excuse in text, please forgive me.  Tee hee hee, are you noticing certain things?  What certain things that may or may not be (you're not quite sure maybe) relative to the plot?  Tell me! R&R for me, I want to see if my foreshadowing is too light or if you're catching the subtlety.   I'm excited!