Draco Malfoy shot up in his bed. Eyes wide, looking anxiously around the room. His breath was coming fast in his throat, and his palms were sweating . He had just heard a girl screaming, loud but faint at the same time. He quickly got out of bed and walked toward the window, pulling the latch the window flung open, slamming against the side of the mansion. He looked out at the dark forest that surrounded Malfoy Manor. 'That's where it came from.' he thought slightly confused. But how had he heard it? If it came from the forest it couldn't have been loud enough to wake him up. His pale grey eyes continued to survey the land before him. The wind was cold and harsh that night, too cold for it to be the middle of summer. Draco shivered slightly but couldn't bring himself to leave the window. Something was out there, something that made that girl scream. 'What was it?' he thought. He was shivering now and wrapping his arms tighter around his naked chest. The wind picked up, tousling his platinum blonde hair and bringing water to his eyes. He continued his useless search of the forest. That scream had woken him up, loud and blood curdling it had ripped him from his dreams. He knew he wouldn't be able to see anything, it was too dark, the forest too dense. He sighed heavily, he was getting that knot in the pit of his stomach whenever he felt something bad was going to happen. "Draco?" The tall blonde turned sharply at the sound of his name. His mother stood in the doorway, her royal blue bathrobe pulled tightly around her. "Something wrong Draco?" He looked at her, a bit confused. Had she heard the scream too, or was she just roaming about like she's always done since Lucius had been thrown into Azkaban? "Are you ok?" she asked again, a bit of worry playing on her voice. "Y-yes, mother I'm fine, just needed a drink of water." he said as he headed back to the glass pitcher that was placed by his bed every night. "Well close that window then and go back to sleep. Its very cold in here." she said as she pulled her robes tighter around her. "Yes mother. You should sleep too. Walking around like this every night can't be good for you." Draco said in his most sincere voice. Narcissa smiled at her son's kind words. "I will dear, I will." she promised as she closed his door.

Draco did as his mother said, though he was seventeen and embarking on his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, he should have been going through the whole teen angst phase and rebelling horribly against his parents. 'More like parent.' he thought bitterly. Lucius had been caught and thrown into Azkaban a little over a year ago. Voldermort was sort of at large, though almost all of his followers had been caught and imprisoned or killed. The Boy Wonder had just about killed the Dark Lord but was stopped at the last minute by Dumbledore. Not that any of it mattered, all that matter was that his father was gone and he was finally happy. Contrary to popular belief Draco had never wanted to be like his father, but after having it beat into him day after day, year after year he didn't know any other way to behave. He was far from innocent though, nothing like that damned Golden Trio. How he loathed them, especially Hermione. She was such a goody-goody and a know it all. Though she had been looking good this past year, puberty must have been very nice to her and the little Weasly brat as well. Draco sighed again and tried to go to sleep, trying to push the sounds of that horrible screaming out of his head.

The moon was casting a bright silvery light into his room making it hard for him to go back to sleep but in order to block it out he'd have to go back to the window. He shivered involuntarily. He knew there were dark things in the forest surrounding Malfoy Manor but never in his seventeen years had he faced one. And if he had his mother or father had been there to protect him. He threw the nearest pillow over his head and pushed himself further under the blankets. Sleep was just starting to overcome him when his door opened. Narcissa stuck her head in and looked at her son. His room was deathly cold, and it was slinking its way down the front of her robe. "Draco? Draco?! I thought I told you to close that window, you'll catch your death of a cold." She heard the figure under the bed sigh angrily and watched as the pillow was thrown across the room. 'My that boy has such a temper. Just like his father.' she watched him stumble out of bed and head towards the window. She closed the door to his room and headed to her own, it was well past her bedtime. "Draco's right, this lack of sleep is not good for me."

Draco stalked the short way to the window and grabbed the heavy black drapes. He should close the window too but then it might get too hot. Another cold draft blew in through the window making Draco shiver. Rubbing the newly formed sleep from his eyes he took one last survey of the forest. All seemed quiet and still, like all the creatures in it were dead. 'Or afraid to come out.' Not even the trees were blowing in the wind. As he turned to close the drapes he saw it. His heart stopped. His breath that had yet to make its way out his body choked him. He stood stock still, frozen in fear. There in the forest a pair of bright blood red eyes were staring right at him. Choking on the breath in his throat Draco began coughing violently. His body was shaking beyond control as his hand gripped the drapes tighter. The cold was getting to him now, seeping into his body and freezing his every organ. It was almost as if a dementor were there. He was shaking now, not from the cold but from fear. Somehow he knew that the owner of those eyes was what made that girl scream earlier. Recovering from his coughing fit Draco looked back out the window. Those red eyes were still there, still staring at him. He backed away from the window slowly, he had to get out of here. 'If only I had closed that damn window.' More cold air had worked its way into his room, ruffling his bed sheets, messing his hair, and slamming into his skin giving him goose bumps. Even the floor beneath his feet was getting colder with every step. Draco kept backing up until his heel hit the edge of his bed. He gave a start, not expecting it to be so close. Quickly turning back to the window he noticed those eyes were no longer there. 'Oh shit.' He ran back towards the window and against better judgment he stuck his head out. He looked nervously about, he had to find that thing. Where the hell was it? That's when he felt it. Cold hands tracing their way up his back and slowly wrapping its fingers around his neck. Draco turned himself around and gasped. Bright blood red eyes were staring right at him, not three feet from him. The things grip tightened around his neck and brought him closer to its face. Its mouth was slightly a gap, revealing deadly sharp fangs. A faint odor of blood escaped from its mouth causing Draco to choke on the scent. Not knowing what else to do Draco screamed. He screamed as loud as he could as the thing shoved him away. Its gripped loosened around his neck and he fell to the floor. He continued screaming and thrashing around as he felt hands upon his skin. 'I can't die now! This can't be happening. What did I do to deserve this?'