Dark Temptations
A/N: I don't feel like doing Homework, so that's why I'm rewriting these chapters at the moment. I hate school, too much stress, that's for sure. Whatever, enjoy.
Disclaimer: If anything did belong to me, then I would be a bloody-rich 14- year old lass, still not knowing what will happen in her continued life.
~+~
Chapter 2-Mind Games
~+~
Harry had been awakened by the sunlight streaming in through the windows, bending in his beds' direction. Aroused by the sudden change of his vision from darkness to a hollow red, he opened his eyes to take in the blurry scenery, searching for his glasses that had fallen and shattered during his frenzy in getting his clothes off the previous night. 'Had it been a dream?' he questioned himself as he felt the shards under his left palm, slightly pushing in against his skin.
'Did I dream the whole thing with Draco liking me?'
He was hoping that it had all very much been a dream, but something inside him felt slightly disappointed if it had, something he had never noticed before. But he had other worries on his mind at the moment, pushing the thought away. Because he was one of the earliest to rise, he couldn't ask any of the boys' sharing his dormitory to maybe help him with his eye- problem. Crawling out of bed and standing slightly off balance, he started making his way towards his chest to get out his wand. With his hands held up somewhat just in case he fell or walked into a wall, he felt as his hands went into a soft material against a hard-something. 'A cloak?' he wondered, 'someone is standing in front of me?'
Having the bad eyesight as he did, he couldn't tell that it had been Draco he had bumped into again. Harry was also lucky that he didn't see the urgency arouse in Draco's silver gaze, which normally stayed emotionless.
The blond was having the hardest time to keep his inner beast under control, fighting against himself to not take the raven-haired boy on his bed and taking him into full possession. Instead, he took Harry's right palm and raised it to his lips, startling the other boy as he felt teeth graze against the tips of his fingers, making his insides squirm with what felt like delight but was trying to make it disgust.
"Who-who's there?" he asked in a slightly high-pitched voice from his usual low tone. The answer he received was that he was pulled against the other person, who obviously was a guy, and felt someone staring at him intently, 'someone with silver views,' he finally noted. He took in a quick breath as realization tumbled in on him. Harry was bent on shouting out Draco's name, until he felt his air being taken in by another, his lips being covered by the boy he was supposed to hate.
He could do nothing but try and push the other boy away, knowing Draco was much stronger than he. But he couldn't keep his mouth closed enough for Draco not to gain access to his inner warmth, skimming over his teeth and causing Harry to quiver like a willow in the wind.
When he was finally released, Draco still had his arm around him, still holding a blushing Harry close to him as if protecting him from something, or someone. "What do you want?" Harry asked him in a barely managed whisper, still dazed from the sudden impulse of the other boy's intense longing.
What Harry had breathed against Draco's chest was enough for him to nearly howl and wake up the rest of the school, howl to let the creatures in the woods know how happy and yet how sad he was. "I came to give you these," he purred into Harry's ear, causing the other boy's cheeks to tinge with an even brighter rose color. He brought Harry over to sit on his bed, held him firmly by the chin and told Harry to trust him for just this moment, keeping his voice low enough so as not to wake the others. Harry nodded slightly, not having much room to turn his head either way because of Dracos' grasp on him. He cried out slightly when he felt his eye being prodded open and quickly squinted his eyes closed when he felt something wet go into his left one. But when he opened them again, he could see somewhat clearer, not understanding until Draco held up a contact lens.
'So that's why he's here,' Harry thought, slightly ashamed at himself for wanting to have ratted him out. He knew exactly what the others thought of Draco, and just calling out his name and they would have been on his back like a pack of dogs. 'Blood-thirsty dogs,' the thought made him shudder in revulsion.
When both of the contacts had been put in his eyes, Harry blinked to get used to the extra wet feeling in his eyes and finally was able to look Draco in the eyes again.
'How beautifully his eyes sparkle,' Draco thought in pure adoration. 'As if spring itself was kept within him.' He brushed his hand against Harry's cheek, having sensed that Harry hadn't called out his name yet, because he did care. But the touch made him move his head away in shock, still not used to being treated in such a manner. 'Amazing how innocent he still is,' he still marveled at him, thinking about how far from even partially virgin he was. "I hope these will help you better," Draco told him before he brushed his lips against Harry's cheek and departed, afraid that he may no longer have hold over what was inside him, what called out to Harry's soul.
Harry sat on his bed and watched as Draco descended the stairs, and just in time because Ron was starting to wake up and gazed around, greeting Harry with, "Morning mate. So, what's for breakfast?"
~+~
When they had walked into the Great Hall to join the other Gryffindors for breakfast, Harry could do all except keep his attention on Collin as he was describing how his dad had been out fishing and was nearly swallowed by a Hydra.
"Amazing that they even exist," Seamus muttered to them, finding the story a little too extravagant to believe.
"But he even got pictures of it," Collins younger brother chimed in, "and he could swear that the thing was bigger than 1000 meters!" at this he was gesturing his hands apart towards the ceiling and the floor.
"So when do we get to see this so-called 'evidence' of yours, ey?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raised in doubt and his eyes flashing with suppressed mirth.
Harry's attention had been directed in towards the Slytherin table for most of what he had been listening to. He was still trying to figure out how Draco had gotten into Gryffindor tower without anyone having noticed, 'And why does it always have to be me?' he thought in anguish. 'Because you're the one that is so much more than any of these others,' answered an annoying little voice in the back of his head, a voice that sounded like a twisted and deranged him.
"And BOOM-" Harry was startled out of his thoughts, "there came the waves crashing in on 'em," Collin finished his story with a satisfied smile on his face.
Hermione had been reading her book, for the first time a muggle one called 'Dark Prince' by Christine Feehan. "What are you reading, Hermes?"
"Don't call me 'Hermes,'" she muttered absently, all her focus intensed upon that single page. Now the other side.
"Hermione," Ron continued, not having noticed the hint to back off, "one of these days you're going to pick up a book, start reading it and it will cause you to go blind."
"And you will be there and prevent me, no, protect me from letting it get that far," she countered, still reading on in her book.
"Touché," Dean smiled at Ron, who's ears had turned a noble scarlet and looked the other way.
Looking for another distraction, he started intruding on Harry's thoughts. "So why are you in such a dispirited mood, Harry?"
Harry who had continued his thoughts of trying to sort this business out, stared up from his breakfast and into his friends brown eyes, not saying a word nor changing expression.
"Don't tell me you've got a heart-ache?" Ron said in disbelief. Harry had never been in a relationship, and already he had his heart broken. He remembered his previous crush on Cho, but that he should regret on it?
Harry just shook his head and continued his staring, then he finally remembered. Today they didn't have classes, so he could ask Hermione to help him in the library. His mood highly increased at the thought of having a better understanding about what was happening, though he should have regretted what he did next. "Hermione!"
"What?" she asked in a clearly annoyed tone.
Putting his hands over her page so she was forced to look up, he saw the clear anger and aggravation in her eyes, but he didn't flinch back. He kept his gaze just as steady, determined not to back down, though he could feel her cold fury raining down on him like thousand little daggers made of ice pouring with their points bent on his death, though she would never seriously harm him. Just probably jinx him for the month or so. "I really need your help," he said in a final tone.
Slowly understanding how serious he was about her guidance, she softened her gaze and nodded, putting the book aside and finishing her toast in two bites.
Ron just sat there in amazement, very much stunned to where he couldn't say anything but stare. Hermione loved him, but she would never think twice about what HE would ask for. Harry, who's reasons he didn't have the faintest Idea about just stared back at her and she agreed, even set her book ASIDE to hurry up. He nearly fainted from the sudden change in both of them, the only thing keeping him awake is when Harry was shaking him to finish his juice and come along.
Draco had been watching this from the corner of his eye, gently probed Harry's mind and found out that he was planning on doing some background searching on Carpathians and Vampires. 'The most he'll probably find out though,' he thought in amusement, 'is that Carpathians are also the names for some mountains'. But it would be good for Harry to understand the seriousness of the situation, so he didn't try to stop them. Nonetheless, Draco was still slightly hurt that Harry hadn't come to him to find out some more. But Draco also thought about how he still wasn't used to any of this and knew that by now anyone else would have been scared senseless. He was glad that Harry was the one and whispered under his breath, "Good luck." He turned back and allowed himself to be entertained by Pansy, who insisted that her mother's new Budgie could speak Portuguese and Spanish, though no one told her that they were basically the same language.
~+~
Hermione had lead them directly into the restricted section, not even taking her time to look at any other shelf, though she still didn't know what Harry was looking for.
"Hermione, if you'd please let me explain," Harry was trying to reason.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said confidently, searching along the spines of certain weathered books, "whatever it is, surely we're to find it among these."
"That's just it," Harry tried again, not paying attention to which volumes she was handing Ron, though many seemed immensely heavy, "what I'm looking for is something that isn't so common nor natural."
Hermione turned, once again annoyed at him, possibly telling her that she had mistaken him totally. "Well then," she said in a huffy tone, "what ARE you looking for?"
Harry sighed, knowing it would be no good reasoning with her, so he just told her Carpathians.
To his shock, Hermione visibly paled at the mentioning, but Ron was to busy carrying the books to the nearest table to pay much attention. "Harry," she said barely above a whisper, "what do you want to know about them?"
"What they are," he was looking for the reason he was even here. Of course he wanted to know what they are, but something in him also didn't want to find out if the truth was that bad.
She looked around and made sure Ron was still distracted, then turned back to Harry and asked him, "Is there something you're not telling us?"
He looked her in the eyes, and she knew he was. But before he started, she had to promise not to tell Ron. To prove that she would keep silent, she sent him off to find a book that she had checked out since the beginning of the year, then turned all of her attention to Harry, gripping the novel tighter in her hand.
Harry tried describing her the best he could about what had happened between him and Draco, their meeting in the Hall, then that morning. His words, his voice, the look in his eyes, everything. When he finally finished, all she could do was stare at him for a moment, beginning to resemble a ghost with a parched throat.
"But Draco's so, so pale," she tried reasoning logically.
"His paleness and hair come from his mother's side, siren," he explained from what he had told him.
"Well Harry," she told him in the calmest voice she could manage, "you got into some deep mess this time." She shook her head while gazing down at the book that showed an angel headstone made of granite and a single red rose, the titling in a metallic purple. "I wish I'd never started reading this book," she said angrily, looking as if she'd rip it apart.
"Why?" he asked in confusion. What would a book have to do with what is happening?
"I think it's all my fault," she said, gazing at him with eyes close to tears. "This book is almost like your problem," she paused, watching Harry's reaction, but his expression hadn't changed. "It's like a guide to Carpathians," she started, "you could almost explain them as Veelas that can't walk in the day, can change into any form they wish but not when they're angry, and have a very long lifetime. But that they will not hesitate to follow the ones they love into death. I'm truly sorry, Harry. I wished so hard for something so incredible to happen, so unbelievable-"
Harry went ashen, the thought of someone like that having chosen him for life. Him! A simple human wizard. . .
"But one thing I don't understand," Hermione admitted, thinking back on what she had read sofar. "Unlike Veelas, Carpathians don't normally have a mano-et-mano relationship. It's very much impossible, least alone the fact that you're human."
Harry, sensing that he didn't want to know but had to, asked the question he dreaded, "What do you mean 'least alone the fact that I'm human'?"
Hermione looked him directly in the eyes this time, definitely concealing something he didn't want to hear. "If the human is what they seek, mostly they don't survive when they. . ."
Knowing she didn't have to say anymore, she left it hanging at that and saw how Harry nearly fainted, when he heard Draco's voice intrude into his mind.
"We need to talk," was what he said.
Absentmindedly, Harry asked him, "when?"
"After dinner," he said, then added as an after-thought, "put your invisibility cloak on when you come to the forest."
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief. He couldn't mean into 'the' forest, but there weren't any other ones around to confuse it with.
"Not inside, the edge."
"But how will I know where you are?" Draco had already left his presence to leave Harry alone in his thoughts.
"Harry?" Hermione asked in a worried tone when she saw how Harry had broken into a sweat, his eyes looking slightly dilated.
"I can talk to him telepathically," was all he could say before he had a blackout and collapsed.
~+~
Harry awoke in a white-sheeted bed, with another occupied bed across from him. A third-year had obviously been playing around in one of the greenhouses and a plant had bitten her hand and it was now a sickening shade of blue. It was clear to now that he was in the hospital wing.
"Harry, thank goodness you're awake," Ron said, his face very much relieved that his friend hadn't been in any serious state.
"What happened?" he asked, slowly sitting up in his bed, his head still throbbing slightly.
"You fainted," Hermione told him, putting a hand to his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever.
"No, I'm fine, I just-," he was in the process of pushing her hand away when he saw where she was sitting. In Ron's Lap, where next to him stood what used to be her chair.
Noticing to where he was looking and why he was grinning like that all of a sudden, Hermione quickly stood up, throwing Ron's arm off of her and going around to her seat, where she sat for the rest of the time, blushing.
Looking for a change of subject, Ron told Harry about how Madam Pomfrey said that his collapse had been caused by him using too much mental strength, normally as a result to having telekinesis or telepathy.
Harry looked at Hermione, who showed no sign of guilt, and took Ron's word for what had happened. Suddenly remembering why his head was hurting, he asked what time it was.
"Dinner just started ten minutes ago," Hermione said, shocked at his sudden pomposity.
"Damnit!" was the only answer they got as he jumped out of bed and started running towards the Gryffindor Dormitory, all too fast for Ron and Hermione to have transferred before he was out the door.
"Did he just-" she started.
"Yep," Ron answered her.
"Well, then-"
"That did go rather well I guess."
"Shall we be-"
"I thought you'd never ask."
~+~
Harry left Gryffindor tower as soon as he had arrived there, leaving a very stunned Fat Lady watch his retreating back go down the stairs to dinner, with something silver bundled under his robes as well.
Arriving in the Great Hall he searched Slytherin Table to assure himself Draco hadn't left yet. He saw the blond-haired boy in a deep discussion about something with Adrian Pucey, who was still there for the sake of attending old classes. With a sigh of relief, he made his way over to his own table, where Hermione and Ron had saved a seat for him.
"You alright now Harry?" Ron asked him as he sat down.
"Yeah, where were you doing lunch?" Neville asked on a mouth full of Chicken potpie.
"Dying in a hospital bed," he joked, issuing a nervous laugh as Neville and Ginny, who had been sitting nearby overheard, cast him a worried frown. "No, I'd just had a blackout, that's all," he tried assuring them as he put some mashed potateos and mincemeat pie on his plate, ladling gravy over it all.
"Here's some pumpkin juice," Ron inquired, handing him the glass with its contents that Hermione gave him.
"Thanks," he said, taking it from Ron's hand and taking a big gulp of the contents. He felt like his mouth hadn't been so wet in decades.
"So, you want to come with us after dinner and play some rounds of Wizards Chess?" Ginny asked in enthusiasm, hoping Harry would accept.
"Sorry Ginny," Harry smiled at her, so she wouldn't feel to disappointed, "but I've already planned something for the evening."
"Oh?" Ron said, his eyebrows raised. "You've been in the hospital all day, what could you have possibly planned?"
"I had it planned before I fainted," he replied, finishing up his pie and drinking down the rest of his juice. "Well," he said, "I'm done. See you later," and with that, he walked out in the direction of the great oak doors, where in the great hall not many students were left.
~+~
Walking the grounds so late in the evening, dew had already settled on them, giving the place an eerie silvery glow in the moonlight, 'just like his eyes,' Harry thought.
He had the invisibility cloak over him, yet he felt like he was still being watched, stalked with each unseen move he made. Pushing the thought away of having a silent predator behind him somewhere, he started jogging to where they were to meet. Reaching the meeting place, Harry took off the cloak, looking around to see if he saw any sign of Draco coming to meet him.
Harry had been thoroughly wavered through with the evening dampness, a rarity for England, and he couldn't silence his surprise at the sudden stroke along down his back.
Turning in surprise, he met directly with Draco's spellbinding eyes, holding him in place as Draco moved closer, running his thumb along Harry's lower lip, feeling the heat of his breath and the shiver the touch sent through him.
'He's cold,' Draco noted, pulling Harry into an embrace under his mantle, causing Draco's inside to stir with sudden excitement. He slightly cringed with the sudden flooding of his need of joining with him, barely keeping himself in check if not the within.
Harry, who was trying his best to avoid looking into Draco's eyes searched for the distraction of any kind of sound, for the wind possibly blowing. But all was still, no howl towards the full moon, no crickets chirping their usual evening songs of proposal to their hearts. 'Just like a wolf calling towards its mate,' Harry thought suddenly.
He snapped his head back with sudden fear, fear that flooded his mind, his blood, his soul. Looking deep into Draco's silverness, he could see the slight fire burning so deep, deep within all of what seemed like shrouded darkness. Draco muttered something under his breath, something Harry couldn't understand. 'Another language?' he thought in confusion. It seemed like something so old that he had just said, something that seemed ageless. 'Once where the ancients walked their paths,' a memory flitted through his mind, 'taking the power of the night, being called children of the dark. Having to face loneliness throughout their life, then being condemned to seek peace or seek death.'
"What are you thinking of?" Draco lowered his head, drinking in Harry's forever green stare.
"Don't do that," Harry said somewhat out of breath, trying to push away from the one who kept him trapped so neatly next to him. His body was as if made to stand against his.
"Do what?" Draco asked innocently enough, but his gaze spoke otherwise. He brushed his hand down Harry's back, making the other boy arch slightly with sudden ecstasy. When he held his head tipped back a little, leaving his throat fully exposed and unprotected, Draco couldn't hold himself anymore, and bent his head down to the hollow of his neck.
Harry hadn't expected for Draco to be this way, so gentle yet so, so- his mind went all into a muddle when he felt Draco's teeth brush against his neck, when he felt sudden but sweet pain flash through his neck, through his mind. His eyes blinked closed, unable to keep them open at the intensity of what was happening. But then when he felt the warmth of Draco's mouth leave his throat, he knew he should have felt relieved, but instead had a slight chagrin go through him.
'Why didn't he try to push him away before it happened?' He asked himself furiously. 'Because you couldn't help but enjoy what had happened,' the annoying little voice was back again, yet quickly pushed away when Draco flicked his tongue across Harry's eyelids, making him dig his fingers into Draco's shirt.
Draco had to stop himself before it went too far. The beast was now shrieking for release, craving what the other boy had, even if it killed him. He had moved too fast, and letting go of his arms, he pushed Harry back to where he nearly stumbled.
All Harry could do was stare at the other boy, who had filled his mind moments before but now getting away as fast as possible from him. 'I'm glad he did,' Harry muttered to himself, trying to reason for what had happened. But the pain and hurt in his eyes he could not hide, not having much experience in hiding his emotions.
The longer Draco looked at him, the more it was like knives being thrown at him, at his heart. He couldn't take it anymore. Moving past Harry, he called, "you should best stay away from me," and walked into the castle.
Harry stared after him a while longer, then picked up his cloak, threw it over his shoulder and started making his way back to Gryffindor tower. 'I'm going in for sick tomorrow,' he thought bitterly.
~+~
A/N: HAH! Eep, this is so weird . . . why did I start writing this again? +_+ Someone slap me and type 'Perv' across my forehead. Good Grief! But I edited it a little, so it should be more improved! . . . yeah . . . whatever. R/R if you please.
A/N: I don't feel like doing Homework, so that's why I'm rewriting these chapters at the moment. I hate school, too much stress, that's for sure. Whatever, enjoy.
Disclaimer: If anything did belong to me, then I would be a bloody-rich 14- year old lass, still not knowing what will happen in her continued life.
~+~
Chapter 2-Mind Games
~+~
Harry had been awakened by the sunlight streaming in through the windows, bending in his beds' direction. Aroused by the sudden change of his vision from darkness to a hollow red, he opened his eyes to take in the blurry scenery, searching for his glasses that had fallen and shattered during his frenzy in getting his clothes off the previous night. 'Had it been a dream?' he questioned himself as he felt the shards under his left palm, slightly pushing in against his skin.
'Did I dream the whole thing with Draco liking me?'
He was hoping that it had all very much been a dream, but something inside him felt slightly disappointed if it had, something he had never noticed before. But he had other worries on his mind at the moment, pushing the thought away. Because he was one of the earliest to rise, he couldn't ask any of the boys' sharing his dormitory to maybe help him with his eye- problem. Crawling out of bed and standing slightly off balance, he started making his way towards his chest to get out his wand. With his hands held up somewhat just in case he fell or walked into a wall, he felt as his hands went into a soft material against a hard-something. 'A cloak?' he wondered, 'someone is standing in front of me?'
Having the bad eyesight as he did, he couldn't tell that it had been Draco he had bumped into again. Harry was also lucky that he didn't see the urgency arouse in Draco's silver gaze, which normally stayed emotionless.
The blond was having the hardest time to keep his inner beast under control, fighting against himself to not take the raven-haired boy on his bed and taking him into full possession. Instead, he took Harry's right palm and raised it to his lips, startling the other boy as he felt teeth graze against the tips of his fingers, making his insides squirm with what felt like delight but was trying to make it disgust.
"Who-who's there?" he asked in a slightly high-pitched voice from his usual low tone. The answer he received was that he was pulled against the other person, who obviously was a guy, and felt someone staring at him intently, 'someone with silver views,' he finally noted. He took in a quick breath as realization tumbled in on him. Harry was bent on shouting out Draco's name, until he felt his air being taken in by another, his lips being covered by the boy he was supposed to hate.
He could do nothing but try and push the other boy away, knowing Draco was much stronger than he. But he couldn't keep his mouth closed enough for Draco not to gain access to his inner warmth, skimming over his teeth and causing Harry to quiver like a willow in the wind.
When he was finally released, Draco still had his arm around him, still holding a blushing Harry close to him as if protecting him from something, or someone. "What do you want?" Harry asked him in a barely managed whisper, still dazed from the sudden impulse of the other boy's intense longing.
What Harry had breathed against Draco's chest was enough for him to nearly howl and wake up the rest of the school, howl to let the creatures in the woods know how happy and yet how sad he was. "I came to give you these," he purred into Harry's ear, causing the other boy's cheeks to tinge with an even brighter rose color. He brought Harry over to sit on his bed, held him firmly by the chin and told Harry to trust him for just this moment, keeping his voice low enough so as not to wake the others. Harry nodded slightly, not having much room to turn his head either way because of Dracos' grasp on him. He cried out slightly when he felt his eye being prodded open and quickly squinted his eyes closed when he felt something wet go into his left one. But when he opened them again, he could see somewhat clearer, not understanding until Draco held up a contact lens.
'So that's why he's here,' Harry thought, slightly ashamed at himself for wanting to have ratted him out. He knew exactly what the others thought of Draco, and just calling out his name and they would have been on his back like a pack of dogs. 'Blood-thirsty dogs,' the thought made him shudder in revulsion.
When both of the contacts had been put in his eyes, Harry blinked to get used to the extra wet feeling in his eyes and finally was able to look Draco in the eyes again.
'How beautifully his eyes sparkle,' Draco thought in pure adoration. 'As if spring itself was kept within him.' He brushed his hand against Harry's cheek, having sensed that Harry hadn't called out his name yet, because he did care. But the touch made him move his head away in shock, still not used to being treated in such a manner. 'Amazing how innocent he still is,' he still marveled at him, thinking about how far from even partially virgin he was. "I hope these will help you better," Draco told him before he brushed his lips against Harry's cheek and departed, afraid that he may no longer have hold over what was inside him, what called out to Harry's soul.
Harry sat on his bed and watched as Draco descended the stairs, and just in time because Ron was starting to wake up and gazed around, greeting Harry with, "Morning mate. So, what's for breakfast?"
~+~
When they had walked into the Great Hall to join the other Gryffindors for breakfast, Harry could do all except keep his attention on Collin as he was describing how his dad had been out fishing and was nearly swallowed by a Hydra.
"Amazing that they even exist," Seamus muttered to them, finding the story a little too extravagant to believe.
"But he even got pictures of it," Collins younger brother chimed in, "and he could swear that the thing was bigger than 1000 meters!" at this he was gesturing his hands apart towards the ceiling and the floor.
"So when do we get to see this so-called 'evidence' of yours, ey?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raised in doubt and his eyes flashing with suppressed mirth.
Harry's attention had been directed in towards the Slytherin table for most of what he had been listening to. He was still trying to figure out how Draco had gotten into Gryffindor tower without anyone having noticed, 'And why does it always have to be me?' he thought in anguish. 'Because you're the one that is so much more than any of these others,' answered an annoying little voice in the back of his head, a voice that sounded like a twisted and deranged him.
"And BOOM-" Harry was startled out of his thoughts, "there came the waves crashing in on 'em," Collin finished his story with a satisfied smile on his face.
Hermione had been reading her book, for the first time a muggle one called 'Dark Prince' by Christine Feehan. "What are you reading, Hermes?"
"Don't call me 'Hermes,'" she muttered absently, all her focus intensed upon that single page. Now the other side.
"Hermione," Ron continued, not having noticed the hint to back off, "one of these days you're going to pick up a book, start reading it and it will cause you to go blind."
"And you will be there and prevent me, no, protect me from letting it get that far," she countered, still reading on in her book.
"Touché," Dean smiled at Ron, who's ears had turned a noble scarlet and looked the other way.
Looking for another distraction, he started intruding on Harry's thoughts. "So why are you in such a dispirited mood, Harry?"
Harry who had continued his thoughts of trying to sort this business out, stared up from his breakfast and into his friends brown eyes, not saying a word nor changing expression.
"Don't tell me you've got a heart-ache?" Ron said in disbelief. Harry had never been in a relationship, and already he had his heart broken. He remembered his previous crush on Cho, but that he should regret on it?
Harry just shook his head and continued his staring, then he finally remembered. Today they didn't have classes, so he could ask Hermione to help him in the library. His mood highly increased at the thought of having a better understanding about what was happening, though he should have regretted what he did next. "Hermione!"
"What?" she asked in a clearly annoyed tone.
Putting his hands over her page so she was forced to look up, he saw the clear anger and aggravation in her eyes, but he didn't flinch back. He kept his gaze just as steady, determined not to back down, though he could feel her cold fury raining down on him like thousand little daggers made of ice pouring with their points bent on his death, though she would never seriously harm him. Just probably jinx him for the month or so. "I really need your help," he said in a final tone.
Slowly understanding how serious he was about her guidance, she softened her gaze and nodded, putting the book aside and finishing her toast in two bites.
Ron just sat there in amazement, very much stunned to where he couldn't say anything but stare. Hermione loved him, but she would never think twice about what HE would ask for. Harry, who's reasons he didn't have the faintest Idea about just stared back at her and she agreed, even set her book ASIDE to hurry up. He nearly fainted from the sudden change in both of them, the only thing keeping him awake is when Harry was shaking him to finish his juice and come along.
Draco had been watching this from the corner of his eye, gently probed Harry's mind and found out that he was planning on doing some background searching on Carpathians and Vampires. 'The most he'll probably find out though,' he thought in amusement, 'is that Carpathians are also the names for some mountains'. But it would be good for Harry to understand the seriousness of the situation, so he didn't try to stop them. Nonetheless, Draco was still slightly hurt that Harry hadn't come to him to find out some more. But Draco also thought about how he still wasn't used to any of this and knew that by now anyone else would have been scared senseless. He was glad that Harry was the one and whispered under his breath, "Good luck." He turned back and allowed himself to be entertained by Pansy, who insisted that her mother's new Budgie could speak Portuguese and Spanish, though no one told her that they were basically the same language.
~+~
Hermione had lead them directly into the restricted section, not even taking her time to look at any other shelf, though she still didn't know what Harry was looking for.
"Hermione, if you'd please let me explain," Harry was trying to reason.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said confidently, searching along the spines of certain weathered books, "whatever it is, surely we're to find it among these."
"That's just it," Harry tried again, not paying attention to which volumes she was handing Ron, though many seemed immensely heavy, "what I'm looking for is something that isn't so common nor natural."
Hermione turned, once again annoyed at him, possibly telling her that she had mistaken him totally. "Well then," she said in a huffy tone, "what ARE you looking for?"
Harry sighed, knowing it would be no good reasoning with her, so he just told her Carpathians.
To his shock, Hermione visibly paled at the mentioning, but Ron was to busy carrying the books to the nearest table to pay much attention. "Harry," she said barely above a whisper, "what do you want to know about them?"
"What they are," he was looking for the reason he was even here. Of course he wanted to know what they are, but something in him also didn't want to find out if the truth was that bad.
She looked around and made sure Ron was still distracted, then turned back to Harry and asked him, "Is there something you're not telling us?"
He looked her in the eyes, and she knew he was. But before he started, she had to promise not to tell Ron. To prove that she would keep silent, she sent him off to find a book that she had checked out since the beginning of the year, then turned all of her attention to Harry, gripping the novel tighter in her hand.
Harry tried describing her the best he could about what had happened between him and Draco, their meeting in the Hall, then that morning. His words, his voice, the look in his eyes, everything. When he finally finished, all she could do was stare at him for a moment, beginning to resemble a ghost with a parched throat.
"But Draco's so, so pale," she tried reasoning logically.
"His paleness and hair come from his mother's side, siren," he explained from what he had told him.
"Well Harry," she told him in the calmest voice she could manage, "you got into some deep mess this time." She shook her head while gazing down at the book that showed an angel headstone made of granite and a single red rose, the titling in a metallic purple. "I wish I'd never started reading this book," she said angrily, looking as if she'd rip it apart.
"Why?" he asked in confusion. What would a book have to do with what is happening?
"I think it's all my fault," she said, gazing at him with eyes close to tears. "This book is almost like your problem," she paused, watching Harry's reaction, but his expression hadn't changed. "It's like a guide to Carpathians," she started, "you could almost explain them as Veelas that can't walk in the day, can change into any form they wish but not when they're angry, and have a very long lifetime. But that they will not hesitate to follow the ones they love into death. I'm truly sorry, Harry. I wished so hard for something so incredible to happen, so unbelievable-"
Harry went ashen, the thought of someone like that having chosen him for life. Him! A simple human wizard. . .
"But one thing I don't understand," Hermione admitted, thinking back on what she had read sofar. "Unlike Veelas, Carpathians don't normally have a mano-et-mano relationship. It's very much impossible, least alone the fact that you're human."
Harry, sensing that he didn't want to know but had to, asked the question he dreaded, "What do you mean 'least alone the fact that I'm human'?"
Hermione looked him directly in the eyes this time, definitely concealing something he didn't want to hear. "If the human is what they seek, mostly they don't survive when they. . ."
Knowing she didn't have to say anymore, she left it hanging at that and saw how Harry nearly fainted, when he heard Draco's voice intrude into his mind.
"We need to talk," was what he said.
Absentmindedly, Harry asked him, "when?"
"After dinner," he said, then added as an after-thought, "put your invisibility cloak on when you come to the forest."
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief. He couldn't mean into 'the' forest, but there weren't any other ones around to confuse it with.
"Not inside, the edge."
"But how will I know where you are?" Draco had already left his presence to leave Harry alone in his thoughts.
"Harry?" Hermione asked in a worried tone when she saw how Harry had broken into a sweat, his eyes looking slightly dilated.
"I can talk to him telepathically," was all he could say before he had a blackout and collapsed.
~+~
Harry awoke in a white-sheeted bed, with another occupied bed across from him. A third-year had obviously been playing around in one of the greenhouses and a plant had bitten her hand and it was now a sickening shade of blue. It was clear to now that he was in the hospital wing.
"Harry, thank goodness you're awake," Ron said, his face very much relieved that his friend hadn't been in any serious state.
"What happened?" he asked, slowly sitting up in his bed, his head still throbbing slightly.
"You fainted," Hermione told him, putting a hand to his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever.
"No, I'm fine, I just-," he was in the process of pushing her hand away when he saw where she was sitting. In Ron's Lap, where next to him stood what used to be her chair.
Noticing to where he was looking and why he was grinning like that all of a sudden, Hermione quickly stood up, throwing Ron's arm off of her and going around to her seat, where she sat for the rest of the time, blushing.
Looking for a change of subject, Ron told Harry about how Madam Pomfrey said that his collapse had been caused by him using too much mental strength, normally as a result to having telekinesis or telepathy.
Harry looked at Hermione, who showed no sign of guilt, and took Ron's word for what had happened. Suddenly remembering why his head was hurting, he asked what time it was.
"Dinner just started ten minutes ago," Hermione said, shocked at his sudden pomposity.
"Damnit!" was the only answer they got as he jumped out of bed and started running towards the Gryffindor Dormitory, all too fast for Ron and Hermione to have transferred before he was out the door.
"Did he just-" she started.
"Yep," Ron answered her.
"Well, then-"
"That did go rather well I guess."
"Shall we be-"
"I thought you'd never ask."
~+~
Harry left Gryffindor tower as soon as he had arrived there, leaving a very stunned Fat Lady watch his retreating back go down the stairs to dinner, with something silver bundled under his robes as well.
Arriving in the Great Hall he searched Slytherin Table to assure himself Draco hadn't left yet. He saw the blond-haired boy in a deep discussion about something with Adrian Pucey, who was still there for the sake of attending old classes. With a sigh of relief, he made his way over to his own table, where Hermione and Ron had saved a seat for him.
"You alright now Harry?" Ron asked him as he sat down.
"Yeah, where were you doing lunch?" Neville asked on a mouth full of Chicken potpie.
"Dying in a hospital bed," he joked, issuing a nervous laugh as Neville and Ginny, who had been sitting nearby overheard, cast him a worried frown. "No, I'd just had a blackout, that's all," he tried assuring them as he put some mashed potateos and mincemeat pie on his plate, ladling gravy over it all.
"Here's some pumpkin juice," Ron inquired, handing him the glass with its contents that Hermione gave him.
"Thanks," he said, taking it from Ron's hand and taking a big gulp of the contents. He felt like his mouth hadn't been so wet in decades.
"So, you want to come with us after dinner and play some rounds of Wizards Chess?" Ginny asked in enthusiasm, hoping Harry would accept.
"Sorry Ginny," Harry smiled at her, so she wouldn't feel to disappointed, "but I've already planned something for the evening."
"Oh?" Ron said, his eyebrows raised. "You've been in the hospital all day, what could you have possibly planned?"
"I had it planned before I fainted," he replied, finishing up his pie and drinking down the rest of his juice. "Well," he said, "I'm done. See you later," and with that, he walked out in the direction of the great oak doors, where in the great hall not many students were left.
~+~
Walking the grounds so late in the evening, dew had already settled on them, giving the place an eerie silvery glow in the moonlight, 'just like his eyes,' Harry thought.
He had the invisibility cloak over him, yet he felt like he was still being watched, stalked with each unseen move he made. Pushing the thought away of having a silent predator behind him somewhere, he started jogging to where they were to meet. Reaching the meeting place, Harry took off the cloak, looking around to see if he saw any sign of Draco coming to meet him.
Harry had been thoroughly wavered through with the evening dampness, a rarity for England, and he couldn't silence his surprise at the sudden stroke along down his back.
Turning in surprise, he met directly with Draco's spellbinding eyes, holding him in place as Draco moved closer, running his thumb along Harry's lower lip, feeling the heat of his breath and the shiver the touch sent through him.
'He's cold,' Draco noted, pulling Harry into an embrace under his mantle, causing Draco's inside to stir with sudden excitement. He slightly cringed with the sudden flooding of his need of joining with him, barely keeping himself in check if not the within.
Harry, who was trying his best to avoid looking into Draco's eyes searched for the distraction of any kind of sound, for the wind possibly blowing. But all was still, no howl towards the full moon, no crickets chirping their usual evening songs of proposal to their hearts. 'Just like a wolf calling towards its mate,' Harry thought suddenly.
He snapped his head back with sudden fear, fear that flooded his mind, his blood, his soul. Looking deep into Draco's silverness, he could see the slight fire burning so deep, deep within all of what seemed like shrouded darkness. Draco muttered something under his breath, something Harry couldn't understand. 'Another language?' he thought in confusion. It seemed like something so old that he had just said, something that seemed ageless. 'Once where the ancients walked their paths,' a memory flitted through his mind, 'taking the power of the night, being called children of the dark. Having to face loneliness throughout their life, then being condemned to seek peace or seek death.'
"What are you thinking of?" Draco lowered his head, drinking in Harry's forever green stare.
"Don't do that," Harry said somewhat out of breath, trying to push away from the one who kept him trapped so neatly next to him. His body was as if made to stand against his.
"Do what?" Draco asked innocently enough, but his gaze spoke otherwise. He brushed his hand down Harry's back, making the other boy arch slightly with sudden ecstasy. When he held his head tipped back a little, leaving his throat fully exposed and unprotected, Draco couldn't hold himself anymore, and bent his head down to the hollow of his neck.
Harry hadn't expected for Draco to be this way, so gentle yet so, so- his mind went all into a muddle when he felt Draco's teeth brush against his neck, when he felt sudden but sweet pain flash through his neck, through his mind. His eyes blinked closed, unable to keep them open at the intensity of what was happening. But then when he felt the warmth of Draco's mouth leave his throat, he knew he should have felt relieved, but instead had a slight chagrin go through him.
'Why didn't he try to push him away before it happened?' He asked himself furiously. 'Because you couldn't help but enjoy what had happened,' the annoying little voice was back again, yet quickly pushed away when Draco flicked his tongue across Harry's eyelids, making him dig his fingers into Draco's shirt.
Draco had to stop himself before it went too far. The beast was now shrieking for release, craving what the other boy had, even if it killed him. He had moved too fast, and letting go of his arms, he pushed Harry back to where he nearly stumbled.
All Harry could do was stare at the other boy, who had filled his mind moments before but now getting away as fast as possible from him. 'I'm glad he did,' Harry muttered to himself, trying to reason for what had happened. But the pain and hurt in his eyes he could not hide, not having much experience in hiding his emotions.
The longer Draco looked at him, the more it was like knives being thrown at him, at his heart. He couldn't take it anymore. Moving past Harry, he called, "you should best stay away from me," and walked into the castle.
Harry stared after him a while longer, then picked up his cloak, threw it over his shoulder and started making his way back to Gryffindor tower. 'I'm going in for sick tomorrow,' he thought bitterly.
~+~
A/N: HAH! Eep, this is so weird . . . why did I start writing this again? +_+ Someone slap me and type 'Perv' across my forehead. Good Grief! But I edited it a little, so it should be more improved! . . . yeah . . . whatever. R/R if you please.
