Hey, I'm back again, probably another too short ch, but I'm kinda busy with loadsa exams at the mo! Whoever came up with the idea of exams was worse than Voldemort! A couple of you wonderful reviewers have mentioned about what happened to Draco. Well, my lovelies, I'm leaving that as a mystery for now, to be revealed as dramatically as poss. later in the fic! Anyway, along with the usual dedications and disclaimers, here's ch11!
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"What's going on?" Fire's eyes flashed with anticipation. Air was sitting on the large, four-poster bed, resting his head on Earth's shoulder. A frown of concern looked out of place on Earth's normally cheerful face.
Water faced them looking grim. "Voldemort was at the mansion. I tried to probe his mind, but it was empty."
Air's head shot up. "Empty?"
"Lucius confirmed it," Water nodded. "Voldemort's been breaking the rules, defying the laws that keep reality together. He's broken his own mortality and now he's an abomination, neither living or dead, a part of this world, yet existing outside of it."
Fire looked aghast. "But that means..."
"He's gaining ultimate knowledge." Her brother finished for her. Water drew a chair closer and sat heavily on it, exhaustion showing on her face. "Precisely. The whole universe exists on certain laws and by defying them he's gaining knowledge and power no mortal should ever posses."
"With ultimate knowledge comes ultimate power." Fire said through gritted teeth. She turned, an angry sigh escaping her lips.
"But only one being can have ultimate power," Earth's voice shook slightly. "Not even angels or demons can have anything near that strong."
"And being mortal corrupts his judgment, we could be facing an unstoppable Armageddon here." Air closed his eyes, lowering his head into his hands. Earth moved closer along the bed and put an arm around his lover, who moved into the comforting touch. Earth looked up after a moment. "So what do we do?"
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Dumbledore swept down the corridor, Draco following behind him. There was an eerie sense of déjà vu as Madam Pomfrey was woken to tend Draco's wounds. While Dumbledore did not mention any of the circumstances, to the trained medi-witch it was very clear what had happened. However, discretion was, as always, paramount to her work. So she said nothing, fighting back tears as she healed and fixed the scars, until no trace of them remained. Draco then hid away in private rooms, attended by Dobby, the only house elf he would allow near him. While Dobby was never told what had happened, experiences at Malfoy Manor gave him a pretty good idea. Inwardly he wept for his former master, the only member of the house who had ever shown him any kindness, and raged at Voldemort, swearing vengeance. Water too disappeared, as agreed, staying in Sunnydale.
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"This sucks!" The statement was punctuated with an angry kick to the first vampire's ribs. Water spun around, slamming another in the jaw with her fist. She turned her attention to the second vamp for a moment, hammering punches to both sides of her face. The vampire, a young, attractive woman in life, seemed stunned at the ferociousness behind the attack. Buffy sat on a swing, watching her friend work off her anger.
"What sucks, specifically?" She asked as she absent-mindedly raised the stake to slam into the chest of the vamp attempting to creep up behind her. As if she couldn't smell him from a mile off. He was joined by his friend as Water smashed her stake into her chest so hard her fist came out the other side. She glowered at the swirling dust for a moment before turning to join Buffy on the swings.
"Everything, Voldemort, Draco, Lucius." Water turned, pausing for a moment as she staked the first vampire, still writhing on the floor. She sat on the swing next to Buffy, gently pushing her self into a soothing motion. Buffy joined her, pushing her legs back, before letting go, joining Water in perfect unison.
"What happened Water? You've been stressing about it all day and I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the vamps!"
Water's gaze dropped to the floor. "I screwed up, that's what happened."
Buffy felt a frown cross her face. "You screwed up? But how? I thought all you had to do was have sex with Lucius? Did his wife give you a hard time?"
A short laugh was the reply. "Narcissa? Pathetic, short sighted. She was easy to wind up, and I thought easy to control." Water paused as Buffy's frown deepened. "Turns out I was overestimating my own powers. I got Lucius away, no problem, even got some interesting info, once I figure it all out. But it wasn't me who distracted Narcissa. It was Voldemort. He blocked...I'm not sure what, but Narcissa didn't figure out that I'd gone off to fuck her husband and I couldn't sense a thing from Draco."
"What happened to Draco?" growing alarm became clear in Buffy's voice.
"Let's just say Voldemort needed compensation for his whore being away." Water gave Buffy a meaningful look. Buffy winced. "Draco doesn't want anyone to know what happened, so please don't ask me to tell you what was done to him," Water continued.
"Poor Draco." Buffy shook her head sadly. "And poor Harry, you know those two are crazy about each other even if nothing's happened yet."
"Draco kissed him"
"Really?"
"Yeah, right before we left. And I promised I would take care of him."
Water stood angrily, the swing shaking from the force of her movement. "I should have been able to take care of him, I should have been able to keep my promise," she growled.
"There was nothing you could have done," Buffy's voice was forceful, but kind. "It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah, but it will be my fault if Draco's too freaked to pursue anything with Harry."
Buffy sighed; there was nothing she could say.
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Harry watched as the sun rose, bathing the castle in rose- pink and gold light. He could feel his heart beating faster in anticipation. Today Draco would come back. Today he could find out what was meant by the kiss, tell Draco how he felt. Harry smiled ruefully. It was ironic really; that he would fall for the one person he should hate most in the school. Draco Malfoy. Slytherin, son of Death Eaters, personification of all Harry fought. So, why was he waiting, unable to sleep, counting the hours until he could see Draco again. Because Draco had changed, even Ron had admitted it. He glanced down at his watch, willing it to have moved since he last checked. 8 o'clock. Standing irritably, he dragged himself away from the stone windowsill where he had been waiting for the past 2 hours, and slowly wandered down to the common room. He picked up a book someone had left there the previous night, but he couldn't focus on the words. Growling in frustration he threw the book across the room, his anger momentarily abated by the satisfying crash as it hit the wall. His contentment was lost, however, when he heard a throat being cleared loudly. He turned to see Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories, a reproachful look on her face. Harry glowered at her, hoping she would get the message. His hope was in vain as she wandered over to join him on the couch, pausing to pick up the innocent book on the way. Turning it over in her hand, she smiled ruefully as she recognised it as one of hers. Placing it gently on the table in front of her, she sat softly next to Harry. A long silence stretched out before Hermione broke it in frustration.
"You know, normally I'd be really upset about you damaging one of my books." She paused, waiting for a response. She got a grunt in return. Rolling her eyes she continued regardless. "I was working late last night on an essay for Professor Vector." Another grunt. Her expression softened. "He'll be back today, Harry."
Aha, that got a response. Harry's head shot up. Hermione smiled inwardly, Harry really could be so predictable. Struggling to keep her smile to herself, she rose from the couch. "Listen, I'll go and wake up Ron, why don't you head down to the Hall, get us some seats for breakfast, then we can go the library and work on the essay for Snape, you know Ron will only do that if we're standing over him."
Harry smiled gratefully and headed off towards the Great Hall, while Hermione went to attempt the great task of waking up her boyfriend.
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Draco woke early, unable to sleep. He would have to face the world today and face the inevitable questions over his time home with his family. Plus he would have to face Harry. It was strange that he now dreaded the very event that he'd wanted so much when he left. But circumstances had changed and Draco felt sick at the thought of facing the boy-who-lived. The boy-he-loved. He dressed slowly, his fingers shaking slightly, his mind tumbling over the various possibilities. Should he tell Harry the full story straight away? Should he wait until their relationship was more stable? Did they even have a relationship? And how would Harry react? Draco growled, unknowingly mirroring Harry's frustration elsewhere in the castle. He closed his eyes, his head lowered.
A moment later he rose, and walked slowly over to the door, dragging his feet. Placing his fingers gently on the door handle he breathed deeply, steeling himself, both mentally and physically. With renewed determination he opened the heavy oak door and stepped out into the corridor. He winced slightly as his eyes got used to the light. Closing the door softly behind him, he paused in the corridor, unable to decide where to go. A growl from his stomach made up his mind for him and he set off towards the Hall.
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Harry wandered down the well-worn corridor, his mind on anything but the path in front of him. Images of the possible outcomes of any meeting with Draco filled his mind. He turned the corner, a small gasp bringing him out of his stupor. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming as he saw Draco standing in front of him, a slight panicked expression on his face. He looked so vulnerable standing there. Had something happened? Or was it just that he looked so different without the sneer that had been on his face for so long? Harry felt the urge to simply kiss him, and fought it down automatically. Instead he smiled softly.
"Hey."
Draco seemed to instantly relax, a small smile gracing his features. "Hey"
"When did you get back?"
There was a pause. "A couple of hours ago, we travelled over night." There was another pause, which seemed to stretch out for eternity, before Harry's face broke into a large grin. "It's good to have you back. I...er..." he blushed. "Well, I missed you."
Draco grinned back. "I missed you too. And believe me when I say it's good to be back."
Harry felt a frown of concern cross his face. "How did it go?"
"My parents and I are on as good terms now as we were before." Draco paused, the smile gone from his face. "I plan to, hopefully, never see or hear from them again." A small shudder shook his body. Harry took a step closer, but stopped as Draco spoke again. "Beyond that, I really don't want to talk about it just yet, ok?" He looked up, his face filled with apprehension. Harry nodded, before taking another step, hesitating, uncertain. Draco smiled again as he closed the gap between them. Harry hugged him, hard and, after a moment, Draco hugged him back, grateful beyond words.
Aww, aint that sweet! Thought I'd leave it on a happy moment for a change and get back to studying. And in the midst of all this exam stress, I really need loadsa reviews in order to get any inspiration to write! (Does puppy dog eyes!) See, I can do blackmail!! Anyway, please review, and I'll get the next chappie done asap
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"What's going on?" Fire's eyes flashed with anticipation. Air was sitting on the large, four-poster bed, resting his head on Earth's shoulder. A frown of concern looked out of place on Earth's normally cheerful face.
Water faced them looking grim. "Voldemort was at the mansion. I tried to probe his mind, but it was empty."
Air's head shot up. "Empty?"
"Lucius confirmed it," Water nodded. "Voldemort's been breaking the rules, defying the laws that keep reality together. He's broken his own mortality and now he's an abomination, neither living or dead, a part of this world, yet existing outside of it."
Fire looked aghast. "But that means..."
"He's gaining ultimate knowledge." Her brother finished for her. Water drew a chair closer and sat heavily on it, exhaustion showing on her face. "Precisely. The whole universe exists on certain laws and by defying them he's gaining knowledge and power no mortal should ever posses."
"With ultimate knowledge comes ultimate power." Fire said through gritted teeth. She turned, an angry sigh escaping her lips.
"But only one being can have ultimate power," Earth's voice shook slightly. "Not even angels or demons can have anything near that strong."
"And being mortal corrupts his judgment, we could be facing an unstoppable Armageddon here." Air closed his eyes, lowering his head into his hands. Earth moved closer along the bed and put an arm around his lover, who moved into the comforting touch. Earth looked up after a moment. "So what do we do?"
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Dumbledore swept down the corridor, Draco following behind him. There was an eerie sense of déjà vu as Madam Pomfrey was woken to tend Draco's wounds. While Dumbledore did not mention any of the circumstances, to the trained medi-witch it was very clear what had happened. However, discretion was, as always, paramount to her work. So she said nothing, fighting back tears as she healed and fixed the scars, until no trace of them remained. Draco then hid away in private rooms, attended by Dobby, the only house elf he would allow near him. While Dobby was never told what had happened, experiences at Malfoy Manor gave him a pretty good idea. Inwardly he wept for his former master, the only member of the house who had ever shown him any kindness, and raged at Voldemort, swearing vengeance. Water too disappeared, as agreed, staying in Sunnydale.
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"This sucks!" The statement was punctuated with an angry kick to the first vampire's ribs. Water spun around, slamming another in the jaw with her fist. She turned her attention to the second vamp for a moment, hammering punches to both sides of her face. The vampire, a young, attractive woman in life, seemed stunned at the ferociousness behind the attack. Buffy sat on a swing, watching her friend work off her anger.
"What sucks, specifically?" She asked as she absent-mindedly raised the stake to slam into the chest of the vamp attempting to creep up behind her. As if she couldn't smell him from a mile off. He was joined by his friend as Water smashed her stake into her chest so hard her fist came out the other side. She glowered at the swirling dust for a moment before turning to join Buffy on the swings.
"Everything, Voldemort, Draco, Lucius." Water turned, pausing for a moment as she staked the first vampire, still writhing on the floor. She sat on the swing next to Buffy, gently pushing her self into a soothing motion. Buffy joined her, pushing her legs back, before letting go, joining Water in perfect unison.
"What happened Water? You've been stressing about it all day and I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the vamps!"
Water's gaze dropped to the floor. "I screwed up, that's what happened."
Buffy felt a frown cross her face. "You screwed up? But how? I thought all you had to do was have sex with Lucius? Did his wife give you a hard time?"
A short laugh was the reply. "Narcissa? Pathetic, short sighted. She was easy to wind up, and I thought easy to control." Water paused as Buffy's frown deepened. "Turns out I was overestimating my own powers. I got Lucius away, no problem, even got some interesting info, once I figure it all out. But it wasn't me who distracted Narcissa. It was Voldemort. He blocked...I'm not sure what, but Narcissa didn't figure out that I'd gone off to fuck her husband and I couldn't sense a thing from Draco."
"What happened to Draco?" growing alarm became clear in Buffy's voice.
"Let's just say Voldemort needed compensation for his whore being away." Water gave Buffy a meaningful look. Buffy winced. "Draco doesn't want anyone to know what happened, so please don't ask me to tell you what was done to him," Water continued.
"Poor Draco." Buffy shook her head sadly. "And poor Harry, you know those two are crazy about each other even if nothing's happened yet."
"Draco kissed him"
"Really?"
"Yeah, right before we left. And I promised I would take care of him."
Water stood angrily, the swing shaking from the force of her movement. "I should have been able to take care of him, I should have been able to keep my promise," she growled.
"There was nothing you could have done," Buffy's voice was forceful, but kind. "It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah, but it will be my fault if Draco's too freaked to pursue anything with Harry."
Buffy sighed; there was nothing she could say.
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Harry watched as the sun rose, bathing the castle in rose- pink and gold light. He could feel his heart beating faster in anticipation. Today Draco would come back. Today he could find out what was meant by the kiss, tell Draco how he felt. Harry smiled ruefully. It was ironic really; that he would fall for the one person he should hate most in the school. Draco Malfoy. Slytherin, son of Death Eaters, personification of all Harry fought. So, why was he waiting, unable to sleep, counting the hours until he could see Draco again. Because Draco had changed, even Ron had admitted it. He glanced down at his watch, willing it to have moved since he last checked. 8 o'clock. Standing irritably, he dragged himself away from the stone windowsill where he had been waiting for the past 2 hours, and slowly wandered down to the common room. He picked up a book someone had left there the previous night, but he couldn't focus on the words. Growling in frustration he threw the book across the room, his anger momentarily abated by the satisfying crash as it hit the wall. His contentment was lost, however, when he heard a throat being cleared loudly. He turned to see Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories, a reproachful look on her face. Harry glowered at her, hoping she would get the message. His hope was in vain as she wandered over to join him on the couch, pausing to pick up the innocent book on the way. Turning it over in her hand, she smiled ruefully as she recognised it as one of hers. Placing it gently on the table in front of her, she sat softly next to Harry. A long silence stretched out before Hermione broke it in frustration.
"You know, normally I'd be really upset about you damaging one of my books." She paused, waiting for a response. She got a grunt in return. Rolling her eyes she continued regardless. "I was working late last night on an essay for Professor Vector." Another grunt. Her expression softened. "He'll be back today, Harry."
Aha, that got a response. Harry's head shot up. Hermione smiled inwardly, Harry really could be so predictable. Struggling to keep her smile to herself, she rose from the couch. "Listen, I'll go and wake up Ron, why don't you head down to the Hall, get us some seats for breakfast, then we can go the library and work on the essay for Snape, you know Ron will only do that if we're standing over him."
Harry smiled gratefully and headed off towards the Great Hall, while Hermione went to attempt the great task of waking up her boyfriend.
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Draco woke early, unable to sleep. He would have to face the world today and face the inevitable questions over his time home with his family. Plus he would have to face Harry. It was strange that he now dreaded the very event that he'd wanted so much when he left. But circumstances had changed and Draco felt sick at the thought of facing the boy-who-lived. The boy-he-loved. He dressed slowly, his fingers shaking slightly, his mind tumbling over the various possibilities. Should he tell Harry the full story straight away? Should he wait until their relationship was more stable? Did they even have a relationship? And how would Harry react? Draco growled, unknowingly mirroring Harry's frustration elsewhere in the castle. He closed his eyes, his head lowered.
A moment later he rose, and walked slowly over to the door, dragging his feet. Placing his fingers gently on the door handle he breathed deeply, steeling himself, both mentally and physically. With renewed determination he opened the heavy oak door and stepped out into the corridor. He winced slightly as his eyes got used to the light. Closing the door softly behind him, he paused in the corridor, unable to decide where to go. A growl from his stomach made up his mind for him and he set off towards the Hall.
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Harry wandered down the well-worn corridor, his mind on anything but the path in front of him. Images of the possible outcomes of any meeting with Draco filled his mind. He turned the corner, a small gasp bringing him out of his stupor. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming as he saw Draco standing in front of him, a slight panicked expression on his face. He looked so vulnerable standing there. Had something happened? Or was it just that he looked so different without the sneer that had been on his face for so long? Harry felt the urge to simply kiss him, and fought it down automatically. Instead he smiled softly.
"Hey."
Draco seemed to instantly relax, a small smile gracing his features. "Hey"
"When did you get back?"
There was a pause. "A couple of hours ago, we travelled over night." There was another pause, which seemed to stretch out for eternity, before Harry's face broke into a large grin. "It's good to have you back. I...er..." he blushed. "Well, I missed you."
Draco grinned back. "I missed you too. And believe me when I say it's good to be back."
Harry felt a frown of concern cross his face. "How did it go?"
"My parents and I are on as good terms now as we were before." Draco paused, the smile gone from his face. "I plan to, hopefully, never see or hear from them again." A small shudder shook his body. Harry took a step closer, but stopped as Draco spoke again. "Beyond that, I really don't want to talk about it just yet, ok?" He looked up, his face filled with apprehension. Harry nodded, before taking another step, hesitating, uncertain. Draco smiled again as he closed the gap between them. Harry hugged him, hard and, after a moment, Draco hugged him back, grateful beyond words.
Aww, aint that sweet! Thought I'd leave it on a happy moment for a change and get back to studying. And in the midst of all this exam stress, I really need loadsa reviews in order to get any inspiration to write! (Does puppy dog eyes!) See, I can do blackmail!! Anyway, please review, and I'll get the next chappie done asap